Ah, My Loki-sama!
by Kurosu
Summary: AU, MayuLoki. (Was "Mayura and Her Gods") Being pure of heart, Mayura gets to have one wish granted by Loki-sama and ends up having a god live with her! What's a girl to do when he's not the only god around? S2, ch 41-43! The Summer Special! Mayura & Loki go on vacation, with a lot of baggage, aka the rest of the immortals, tagging along! Let's explore the mysterious island!
1. Chapter 1

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura. The title was originally _Mayura and Her Gods_, but the new title sounds better, courtesy of pinchess07!

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter One.**

One beautiful evening, a young woman was sitting on the stone steps and gazed at the skies. She let out a long sigh, just as the breeze picked up and gently blew her long, pink hair behind her. In a plain, yellow dress, she sat with her elbows perched on her knees, thinking how it was unfair her father left her at home by herself.

She closed her eyes and recalled how her father sternly forbade her to come along with him on an important assignment. Being a good daughter, she listened, but she was missing out on such a wonderful mystery!

"Mou, papa is being so mean!" she huffed and stood up, running back inside the shrine. She was the young maiden at her father's shrine, and he, a very popular Shinto priest, called upon all sorts of occasions, from Shinto wedding ceremonies and blessings to exorcisms and whatnot of spirits. Following in his footsteps was very difficult for the teenager, barely having a tenth of her father's talents, much less the ability to sense the spirits.

The pink-haired maiden disappeared inside the lonely shrine.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere far, far away, like another realm, a handsome, blonde man looked rather confused at the stack of folders on the desk, unsure of his current position in the familiar office. His deep, green eyes peered at the folders, then rose up to the woman standing before him. She wore a smile that was polite yet hid something mischievous behind it. For once, he was a little worried.

"Erm, Urd-san," he began, "why exactly am I here?"

Her smile seemed to curl up more deviously, "As I've said before, Loki-sama, my sister Verdandi has contracted a slight cold."

"Ah, yes, which I don't quite understand," he stared at the woman, "She is a goddess, after all, but to be ill?"

"It comes with her job," she responded with a shrug. "But anyway, Loki-sama, we're quite shorthanded right now, so we thank you for helping out." She reached for the stack of folders and grabbed the one on top. She opened it and looked through the files. "Each of these contain information on the client you must contact," she spoke, laying the folder open on the desk before him, and moved the phone next to it. "These are humans who are pure of heart, and we reach out to them."

He nodded, "Yes, I understand your job quite well." He wasn't really sure how he got into the whole mess, but he figured his best friend, Thor, was involved somehow. He sighed, "I call them. Offer the wish. Write up a report. Case closed."

"Correct."

"Sounds easy enough." He sat down and leaned back in the comfortable armchair with his elbow resting on the armrest, his cheek in the palm of his hand. "I'll be done before the hour is over," he said confidently.

Urd just smirked and wished him good luck, because he would be needing it. Before she closed the door after her, she glanced one more time as his glimmering eyes skimmed over the first client. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. Her sister's job wasn't as easy as it looked, having to deal with a variety of different mortals, some normal, most quirky.

Perhaps it had been a while since Loki handled a mortal in person.

* * *

The girl, from earlier, was now in the main room of her house, trying to focus on the papers in front of her. Just why did her homework have to be so difficult and boring! She was struggling a bit with her calculus work. "Aah," she sighed and then rested her head on the table, wishing something exciting could happen to her life.

One would think being the daughter of a Shinto priest, she would run into exciting adventures, but no, she had the worse luck of attracting anything but interesting. Her tummy let out a loud growl, and she sat up, looking at the clock on the wall. It was almost eight o'clock, and her father had been out for at least three hours now, and she was beginning to worry.

She stood up and walked out to the hallway, where the phone was. Her father didn't have a cellphone, but she was sure the client's phone number was left on the table. It was a bit rude to call like that, but her father's safety was important, and he was the only family she had left.

She was about to pick up the phone, when it rang out suddenly. She immediately assumed it was her father, "Papa, are you ok?!"

Someone coughed on the other end, "Sorry, this is actually the Goddess' Relief Office."

"Excuse me?" she blinked. That was strange, to hear a young man's voice speaking about a goddess thing, but she had been focused on her father's safety, so she didn't notice how deep and soothing his voice was.

"Daidouji Mayura-san?"

"Y-yes?"

"Good." He paused for a second, "Just give me a moment, and I'll be right there."

Mayura heard the phone clicked and stared at the receiver. That had to be a prank call, but it wasn't even funny. Maybe he was a stalker, because he did know her name. "Oh! Maybe it was Koutaro-kun!" she realized the possibility of her classmate giving her a call, "But does he sound like that over the phone? I should call him back..."

"No need to," came the voice, directly behind her.

It caused her to jump back, holding the receiver to her chest. She came face to face with a handsome, older man, who was grinning at her. He had such piercing, emerald eyes, as if they were gazing right into her soul, and the air of confidence radiated from him, and he seemed to almost sparkle, like one of those prince-like characters from anime . His hair looked so soft and alluring, like her fingers would glide right through them, and his smile was so captivating and seductive!

"Wow," she whispered in amazement, "Who are you?" Her eyes were so round and bright, shimmering in awe at his presence. It didn't occur to her that the young man, a complete and total stranger appearing out of thin air, was now standing in the hallway of her house!

Loki had looked at her file briefly before making the call, but the photo with her information did not do the girl justice. He had seen many beautiful goddesses (and even flirted with them), but the mortal before him had a natural beauty that even many of the immortals could not compare, only to pique his interest. He pondered if her hair color did represent her personality, being so bold and bright.

"My name is Loki," he bowed, "And I am a god."

Clutching the phone tightly in her hand, she cried out, "No way! I don't believe in gods!"

That took him by surprise, but at least she was honest. "Well if you don't believe in god," he just grinned, "then what am I? How do you think I got here?"

"Erm..." She furrowed her eyebrows together in deep thought and came to a conclusion, "Alien?"

He fell over at her response.

"Daidouji-san," he sighed. He was going to have a hard time with this girl. "For the moment, can you just believe that I am a god?" She shook her head fervently, and he stood up and leaned close to her, placing both of his hands on either side of her head. With him being over a foot taller than her, she had to peer up at him with innocent, rebellious eyes, and he couldn't but smirk, finding her fiery, defiant nature as refreshing as the burning flame in his heart.

He narrowed his eyes at her, barely brushing his nose against her own, and his warm breath upon her skin, whispering, "And what if I were to grant you... one wish?

"Only gods can grant wishes."

He moved his hand to her cheek and brushed his fingers against her skin. An electrifying sensation swept through his body, but he hid his confusion behind behind his eyes, staring her down until she would believe - if not in gods, then at least in him.

"I'm here to grant you whatever your heart desires."

From out of the blue, a small card appeared between his fingers. He showed it to her, and she read the card aloud, "'Loki, God First Class, Limited License'?" It was hard not to flinch at the mentioned of his limited abilities, but it was good that she was too preoccupied with it, "Waai, I didn't know gods have business cards!"

He silently cursed Odin for putting restrictions on his powers, still on probation for the last prank he pulled on one of Odin's son, but at least he was still able to do his every day job.

She suddenly laughed at him, "This has to be a joke! Did papa pull you into this?!" She pushed him away, ducking under his arm, and looked around the hallway as if there were hidden cameras recording the prank. She walked in to the main room, calling out to her father, "Where are you, papa?! I know you're in here! That was a pretty good joke, haha! You almost had me fooled!"

Loki grabbed her wrist, and she looked back at him. His green eyes briefly flashed red, and that made her nervous. "Look, as much as I love to joke around, this is actual business. Whether you believe I'm a god or not, you should just tell me what you wish."

She tilted her head curiously, "Why... me?"

"You have a pure heart."

She looked down at his hand holding his wrist. He followed her gaze and then released her, "Sorry." She nodded and sat down at the table, and he joined her on the opposite side. "You can wish for anything."

"Anything," she repeated softly, a finger on her chin in deep thought. He patiently waited for her response, because most people didn't believe him, and it took a while for the situation to sink in before they made their decisions. The girl became very quiet, lowering her head to the point that he couldn't see her beautiful eyes anymore. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but her hands were clasped tightly together on the table as if she was struggling with something internally.

"It's been so lonely," she whispered, "Papa's always working. Mama's not here anymore." He was a bit surprised on her choice of topic, and the sound of her voice was so sad, tugging at his heart. A drastic change from her earlier bubbly self, and he didn't like it, not suiting her at all.

When she looked up at him, she was doing her best to put on a smile, "I don't have any friends either. You're actually the first person I've really talked to you."

Then it hit her, "Oh! Could you bring mama back?!"

He leaned on the table and smiled sympathetically, "Sorry, that's one of the few things I can't do." She was appalled, and he knew what she was going to say: what kind of god was he if he couldn't bring someone back from the dead?! Even gods have their own limitations, and to cross paths with the goddess of the underworld was a no no, even more so when it was his daughter who was just doing her job.

He put his hand over hers, trying to give her some comfort, and she seemed to relax with his touch. "You can ask for riches and then your father wouldn't have to work," he kindly suggested.

She disagreed, "No, I want papa to happy too, and he loves his job." She sighed and put her head down, "I don't know. I can't think of anything. Although, it wouldn't be too bad if I had better grades in school, haha." She laughed and looked at him.

"You're really nice, Loki-sama. I wish I had someone like you with me forever," she smiled sweetly. He blinked and then realized what she had just said, or wished for.

Loki was in big trouble.


	2. Chapter 2

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Two.**

"Ah..."

What was that look on his face? Mayura wondered what was going on. She was having a quiet evening alone, while her father was out due to work and had forbade her to come along. He wanted her to remain at home and focus on her homework, not to mention stay out of trouble. According to him, she had a unique trait of attracting all sorts of troublesome situations.

"Ah, Loki-sama?"

The blonde god suddenly lurched forward, clutching a hand to his chest, as if something had hit him painfully. "You... You actually made," he strained, "such a wish..."

"Um, I did?" She looked dumbfounded, "I made a wish?" Then it hit her, "Oh! I wished I had someone like you!"

"With you forever," he finished. Feeling the pain had subsided, he leaned back with his arms propping him up for support. He then extended a hand to her, "Daidouji-san, will you give me the phone please." She nodded and gave it to him, which he proceeded to punch in a number.

"I hope it's not long distance," she thought aloud, "Or papa will kill me."

He grimaced, waiting for someone to pick up on the other end. When he recognized the familiar voice, his anger flared up, "Urd! Tell me that last wish wasn't processed!" From the dangerous flicker in his eyes, Mayura noted it wasn't the answer he wanted. "You have got to be kidding! Then get Odin to override it!"

What he heard next, he did not like at all. No, that was an understatement. He loathed it.

With her elbows on the table and her head resting on the back of her hands, Mayura was watching the enigmatic god intently. She could see the fierceness in his green eyes, and he closed them briefly as he hung up the phone. "Your wish was approved."

"Really?" She looked around the main room, seeing that no other person was present, "Who's coming to stay here?"

He sighed, "Me." He looked at her as she blinked in confusion, "Your wish was taken literally."

"Oh..."

They were both silent for a while, and Loki wondered what he could even do. Not only did Odin refused to retract the wish contract, but he deemed it as an appropriate punishment for all of Loki's recent mischief in Asgard.

Then an epiphany struck.

"OH MY GOD," the girl exclaimed, "You can't stay here, Loki-sama! Papa will be very upset!"

He raised an eyebrow at her outburst and told her, "Well, there's not much I can do about that. I'm stuck here, you know. More specifically, I'm stuck with you."

"Hey, you make that sound bad!" she pouted, forgetting her major problem.

"It is bad for you too," he smirked.

"Oh, right."

As if the situation couldn't get any worse, they both heard the front door opening. Her father's voice echoed through the house, and Mayura panicked, rushing into the foyer. "Papa! You're home late," she cried, racking through her brain on how to tell her father about a god named Loki staying at their house.

He apologized for not calling earlier. "The exorcism took a little longer than I expected," he smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his head, "The spirit was very mischievous." He took off his shoes and put on the house slippers, gradually moving deep into his home.

"Um, papa," she started nervously.

He didn't skip a step at the tone of his daughter's voice, "What is it, Mayu-chan?" She quickly grabbed her father's arm before he turned towards the main room, causing him to look at her quizzically, "Why are you nervous? Did something happen?" From her hesitant manner, he began to freak out, "DID SOME BOY HARASS YOU?! SOMEONE DARE TO HARM MY LITTLE GIRL?!"

"No, papa! It's just... Um, I..."

It was this moment that a voice interrupted them, "Welcome home, Mayura-papa!" Stunned, the father and daughter turned to the owner of the voice, but instead of looking forward, they had to look down. Right before them was a cute, little boy, no older than twelve years old, and he was giving them the most sweetest smile ever.

"OH! So cute!" Mayura gushed and immediately hugged him. He looked just like Loki, only way younger.

The boy blushed and gasped for air, "Dai.. douji..-san.."

"Loki-sama?" she blinked.

"Mayu-chan?" she heard her father's voice, "Who is this boy? Were you trying to tell me this?"

She released him and turned to the old man, "Um, sorta."

"My name is Loki," the kid cut in with a slight bow, "I recently moved here and was looking for a place to stay. Your daughter kindly offer me a room here."

"Hrm, I see," Daidouji was very suspicious, and no one could blame him, "Where are your parents? You can't be alone here."

"They are still in our home country and won't be here till later."

"That isn't right! No parent should leave their child alone! In another country no less!"

"So can Loki-sa-I mean, Loki-kun stay, papa?" she asked eagerly, eyes shimmering with hope, but the man was still suspicious, because the story just didn't sound right. She puffed up her cheeks, upset at her father's disbelief and stubbornness, adding, "You can't turn a child away, papa! Not into the dark streets! It's just too cruel!"

He looked down at Loki's face and was met by his big, round, innocent, green eyes that just reeked of something deceitful, but he couldn't just say no to his own daughter, and what would the neighbors say if he put the kid into the streets. He really had no choice but agree to the whole ordeal, "Oh all right, but you have to contact your parents first."

Mayura cheered and grabbed Loki's hand, dancing around with him.

He watched the two youngsters nervously and wondered what he got himself into. It had been such a long evening, and all he wanted was just to come home to his daughter and have a nice dinner with her, but no, he had to spend hours with a crazy spirit, then some idiot almost ran him over on the way home, and now this strange boy. How worse could this get?

He decided a long bath was in order. He told the two to clean up and prepare dinner, which Mayura obeyed and dragged Loki with her.

When they were in the kitchen and knew the man was out of earshot, she praised the young Loki on his quick thinking. "Of course," he gloated, "I am a god after all."

"What if papa didn't let you stay?" she inquired.

He leaned casually against the wall and folded his arms across his chest, "The gods would've found a way around that. When you make a wish, it's absolute. Nothing on earth can interfere with it." She paused, in the middle of taking out the food from the refrigerator, and looked at him about to say something, but he reiterated his words with a sigh, "No one, not even your father can get in the way."

With the vegetables in her hands, she closed the fridge door and made her way to the counter. She was deep in her thoughts, not noticing a few of the green leaves had drifted to the floor.

Loki noted how downcasted she looked, and the next thing out of her mouth was unexpected, "I'm sorry, Loki-sama." And once again, she took him by surprise. He didn't expect her to apologize at all.

"It's all my fault you're stuck here, with me."

She put the food on the counter and knelt down to him and told him, energetically, "What if I tell them I don't want that wish?! Then you can go home!"

His expression softened at her sincerity, and his hand touched her chin, holding her face to meet his gaze. "Were you listening to what I said before," he gently admonished, "Nothing will interfere. Not even you, silly mortal."

And he placed a feathery kiss on her forehead.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MAYURA?!" cried her father, having witnessed the strange intimacy between his daughter and the boy. He marched right over to them, and not watching where he was going, his foot brushed across the vegetable leaves that were scattered on the floor, and in what seemed like slow motion, he lost his balance and knocked his head on the side of the counter.

He barely made out voices when everything faded to black.

"Papa!"

"Mayura-papa!"

* * *

The next morning, Daidouji Misao woke up with a horrible headache, like something smashed into his head. He yawned and stretched, hoping it wouldn't affect his day. He could feel his stomach growling loudly, demanding food. For the life of him, he couldn't remember what he had for dinner last night.

"Ah, last night..."

His face suddenly contorted in disgust, then anger, as he finally remembered what happened. He threw his covers aside and ran out of the room, straight to his daughter's room. He quietly peeked in and saw that she was still sleeping peacefully. "Maybe it was all a dream?" he pondered.

That was until he heard a voice behind him, "Good morning, Mayura-papa!"

He whipped his head around and came face to face with his nightmare, "YOU!"

"It's a pleasure to see you too," Loki smirked.

Before the man could say anymore, the doorbell rang, and he had no choice but to go and answer it. Loki was curious, so he followed the owner of the house. When Daidouji opened the door and civilly greeted the visitor, he was mildly surprised to see a young man standing in front of him. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

Smiling, the visitor adjusted his round glasses and bowed, "My name is Yamino Ryuusuke."


	3. Chapter 3

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Three.**

Ok, so Daidouji wasn't sure how he got into this big mess, but it happened. He was somehow convinced on taking another person under his roof, but the free house service in exchange for room and board had been too good to overlook. So here they were, in the next morning hour, at breakfast, with the young man named Yamino Ryuusuke cooking a big meal for four people.

He glanced down at the plate of eggs and sausage and toast, a rather rare Western breakfast they were having, but his daughter and young guest seemed to be enjoying the meal without any protest. His brows furrowed slightly as the knife cut into the meat, and he took a piece up to his mouth and ate it, still thinking about the current situation.

"Yamino-san! Your cooking is delicious!" Mayura praised the young man, who blushed at the kind words, and quickly finished her plate.

Her father frowned in her direction, "Mayura, don't eat so fast, or you'll choke."

"But it's just so good!"

The others chuckled, and Yamino asked her, "Would you like seconds, Mayura-san?"

"Oh ye-!"

"I'll have seconds!" Loki raised his empty plate up, before the girl could get hers to him. There was a small skirmish as the plates were shoved in front of Yamino, who couldn't decide who to give the food to first.

The man of the house sighed and stood up without anyone noticing his leave. Before he disappeared through the kitchen archway, he took one last look at the scene, especially at his daughter who was now laughing and stealing some food off Loki's plate.

"Oi! I'm a growing boy here!"

"Um, good point, you really need it, shorty! Heheheh."

"Hey!"

"I can make more," Yamino tried to calm both down.

Daidouji smiled and left.

Thirty minutes later, Yamino had escorted the priest to his vehicle and received a list of chores for the day from the boss, which was mainly making sure Mayura and Loki stayed out of trouble. After the safe departure, the young man returned to the house, closing the front door, and headed to the kitchen to clean up, but he stopped short, having heard Mayura's panicky, hushed voice. He couldn't make out her words, but he could also hear Loki arguing with her.

As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he saw Loki, in his full adult form, sprawled on the floor, while Mayura was over him with a pink, frilly apron in her hands in an attempt to throw it over the blonde god to conceal his person. Loki held her wrists to stop her from doing something outrageous, and neither noticed how inappropriate their positions were, but Yamino felt enough embarrassment for the three of them and looked at the floor.

"Ah, Yamino-san!" the girl cried, "This isn't what you think!" She threw the apron over Loki's face and pushed him to the floor, "Um, Loki-kun went out to play... and uh, this... is... erm..."

"Argh, Mayura!" Loki groaned, "Will you stop this!"

"I wouldn't have to do this if you had stayed a kid!"

"He knows! Yamino knows!"

"What?"

An irritated Loki pulled the apron off him and glared at the girl in his lap. She was blinking at Yamino, who avoided gaping at the scene, and from that clearly oblivious expression on her face, Loki couldn't stay mad at her. Really, when you have a cute girl in your lap, all defenseless, how could any man be upset?

He smirked, "Mayura, as much as I enjoy this, could you get off me first?"

"Huh?" She turned to him and realized where she was. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" she kept apologizing and blushing as she hurried to her feet.

Loki stood up and brushed the mess off his clothes and fixed his bow tie before acknowledging Yamino, "Jormungand, what are you doing here?" The young man lowered his head guiltily, like a child who had been caught red-handed, and Mayura looked at Loki, then to the other, seeing how familiar they seemed yet the air was very tense.

"You must have heard about my predicament?"

He nodded.

"What? Is Yamino-san a god too?"

"Sort of," he replied.

"He's my son," Loki explained, and Mayura's jaw practically dropped to the floor.

"No way!" she shouted, almost pouncing on Loki, and tugged on his cheeks, "You're too young to have a son!

"Mayura!" he grabbed her hands and pulled them back from his face, "I'm a god, remember?! And please be careful with my face."

"So? You look like a young god, ok? I didn't know gods could have kids anyway."

"Now you know." He brushed Mayura aside to get some answers from his son, who had remained quiet, hoping that what he had done didn't earn him a punishment. "Anyway, Jormungand, I would like your explanation for your appearance on Midgard."

"I was worried for you, father."

Loki frowned, "Is that all?"

Mayura pinched the god's arm, "Don't be so mean, Loki-sama! Of course, a child will be worried for his parent! He came to make sure you're okay!"

"Ah, I understand," he tried to appease her. Seeing her with such a serious, upset expression, it bothered him a bit. "What I meant was, there had to be something more to it." They both turned to Yamino who nodded in reply.

"Most of Asgard do not know about your disappearance, yet. Odin forbade the information to be recorded in the daily log, so only the Norn sisters know of this. I was never meant to find out either, but Skuld told me."

"Hm, I see."

"I came to serve you, father, until you return to Asgard."

"Yamino-san's such a good son!" Mayura gushed, staring at him sweetly, and patted his head. Loki, who had been in deep thought, snapped out of it and gaped at them, as she grabbed Yamino's arm and pulled him out of the kitchen, "Tell me what Loki-sama is like, in this Asgard! Is he really uncool?! And how can your mom put up with his overbearingness!"

"WHAT?" a very annoyed Loki shouted after them, "I'm not overbearing!"

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Tokyo, mainly in the shopping district of Ginza, a gorgeous, tall blonde woman was the center of attention in the area. Men were entranced and falling over the place when the woman walked by, and other females were overshadowed by her beauty and elegance. She smirked, feeling greatly empowered that no man could resist her. She was the perfect woman: soft, smooth skin; shimmering, golden hair; mesmerizing blue eyes; long, sexy legs, and a body of curves.

She heard the gasps and sighs with every click her high heels made on the sidewalk, and that made her ego grow a hundred times more. She loved the attention, the adoration.

Yes, she was perfection, walking on Midgard.

Even in Asgard, she was a beauty. All women envied her; all men adored her, courted her.

At the thought of her home, she stopped in her trek and frowned, an appalling sight for her fans to see an unsightly frown upon such an ethereal, beautiful face.

Not all men adored her. Not all men courted her.

Her hands, at her sides, clenched into a fist, as her jaw tightened.

There was one who completely ignored her, rejected her, stood her up on a date she graciously offered him!

"CURSE YOU, LOKI!"

* * *

Back at the Daidouji home, Loki sneezed a few times. Mayura looked over at him worriedly, "Are you okay, Loki-sama?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

She looked thoughtful, "Do you gods even get sick?"

He shrugged and helped her put the futon over the clothes line to be aired out. Yamino was nearby, drying the laundry in the sun too. After a bit of work, Loki sat down on a bench and watched the two. He never imagined gods would be doing house chores on Midgard, especially him of all the gods. He had a much easier life in Asgard, and for some reason, he wasn't missing home though, almost like a breath of fresh air on vacation.

Yamino finished hanging the laundry and came over to help Mayura beat the dust out of the hanging futon. It was his first time airing out a Japanese mattress, so he got caught up in the dust and coughed. The girl giggled and showed him how to do it properly.

Watching them together, it made Loki smile, since Jormungand was usually quiet and reserved and rarely around the other gods. He was such a loner sometimes, that it worried Loki, but seeing him now with a shy smile and laughter in his eyes, he really had nothing to fret over. Jormungand was fine as he was, because after all, he was Loki's son.

"Loki~sama~!" Mayura sang and waved in his direction.

"Hm?"

She ran over to him, "Let's go for ice cream after this!"

"Sounds good."

"Soo~," she tugged on his arm, pulling up from the bench, "hurry and help us get this done!" She dragged him over to the clothes line.

"Aaw, more work?!"

"You hardly did anything! It was just Yamino-san and me!" she reprimanded, "If you're going to live here, you need to help out too!"

He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off, "God or not, you will work for your food!"

Suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared, and when it was gone, little Loki stood there, smiling up at her, which earned him a glare, "Even a cute kid like me?"

"Loki-sama!" she huffed out.


	4. Chapter 4

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Four.**

"Hrrmmmm..." was all the sound that came from a very unusual frowning Mayura, who had crossed her arms, glaring straight ahead, while a sweatdropping Yamino sat next to her, staring straight ahead too. And just what were the two staring at, across the table of the ice cream parlor?

A handsome, older Loki surrounded by the female wait staff and a few of the surrounding female customers, completely enthralled and smitten by the shimmering god, who had no qualms about the attention he was receiving, basking in the glory he deserved, being the awesome, charming, super good-looking god that he was. If this was the punishment that Odin had decree, then the old geezer had better be watching because it was far from being anything torturous.

"Oh Loki-sama, you're so handsome! You must be a model!"

"Loki-sama, you're not from around here, are you?"

"Loki-sama!"

"Loki-sama!"

Anymore 'Loki-sama' would cause the end of the world (err Ragnarok?), or at least the end of Mayura's sanity. The girl suddenly stood up, pouting. Yamino, having sense the uneasiness coming from her, knew that his father's philandering ways would eventually be a problem for them, but this wasn't quite the way he expected her to find out. He expected his father to be more accommodating to the situation he was in, but the god didn't seem to notice Mayura's discomfort or annoyance, still catering to the hundreds of questions his female fans had.

"Mayura-san," Yamino sympathized with her feelings.

"I'm going home," she announced.

Of course when she said that, Loki finally took notice of her and asked, "So soon? Your sundae hasn't arrived yet." Now his fan club was now giving her the look over, along with several glares from hell that made her wince.

Wanting to avoid their glares and the uncomfortableness of being a target for their burning hatred, she rushed the words out of her mouth, "I-just-remembered-I-still-have-a-lot-of-homework- to-do!-And-papa'll-be-upset-if-I-don't-finish-it-s oon!-See-ya-later!" Then she ran out of the parlor before either of the gods could stop her.

"What's wrong with her?" Loki questioned, looking at his son for answers. It had been Mayura's suggestion to go out for ice cream after all the household chores had been completed, so he had complied with her wishes, even to the point of helping her. He, a god, an elite god, an elite god whose blood brother was Odin, god of all the gods, had lowered himself willingly to help a mortal sweep.

He sure as hell deserved something better than ice cream, but she was just a teenage girl with little wealth, so he had been okay with it, but now she had just bailed on him! Leaving him to be ogled and fawned over by strange mortal women, all at once - didn't they have any shame?! At least in Asgard, the goddesses behaved themselves, with an unwritten rule to admire from a distance, in a non-stalkerish way, because they were supposed to be portrayed as beautiful, lovely, elegant beings, not a group of lustful, hormonal she-wolves in mating season.

A waitress delivered a sundae dessert and an order of hot tea, then joined the fan club by taking the empty seat across from him, forgetting that she was still working on the clock, and Loki found solace in it while the endless chattering of the women around him died in the back of his mind. Staring at the untouched sundae that Mayura had left behind, he couldn't help but miss her presence already, and he had even forgotten about his own son, still present, keeping a vigilant watch on the ever popular god.

It was strange to him, that the pink-haired girl was just as talkative as this bunch, but he always found himself listening to every word she said, and most of the time, she wasn't even talking to him. She wasn't all over him, like these women were, either, giving him appropriate space and treated him like... he wasn't a god at all, like a friend? He found it hard to imagine to have a female companion, when every single female he had met - mostly goddesses - were instantly attracted to him, vying for his attention and affections.

But to have just a companionship, a relationship between a man and a woman that had no ulterior motives from either, only a compatible connection of souls.

"Hmm... a friend..." he had uttered the words so softly, none of the women had heard, as if they could over their own voices.

Yamino eyed his father carefully, noting the softened features of his face as he seemed to be in deep thought about something. The cup of tea returned to its saucer, and Loki rested an elbow on the table, leaning his cheek on the back of his hand like a sweet daydream had beckoned him from reality. It was a beautiful scene that made him seem to glow against the backdrop of the afternoon light.

Several of the women fainted from his brilliant beauty.

* * *

"That Loki-sama!" she huffed, stomping down the street, quite upset and bothered. She didn't understand why he had kept those women around them, and didn't they know how impolite it was to intrude on others - weren't they taught any manners?! Her father had raised her well enough to not slap every single one of them back to reality, but it was also Loki's fault for not turning them away, his inaction had just encouraged them.

Mayura stopped and looked at the ground, frowning again, thinking how he looked like he was enjoying the attention, but he was a god, a very good-looking god that oozed out so much sexiness that she had to admit that she couldn't really blame all those women throwing themselves at him. She sighed at her childish insecurities, regretting that she had left so hastily, with a small droop of her shoulders.

She started to walk again, still heading home because she wasn't turning around to find him and apologize. She still had her pride, so maybe later when they were all home, at night before bed, just between them in private.

Then she suddenly stopped and realized something important.

She recognized several voices shouting at her, something about getting out of the way. Out of the way of what? She looked to her side, finally noticing that she was in the middle of the street, and big truck was heading right for her. Her eyes enlarged, and her whole body paralyzed in horrified shock.

"OH MY GOD!"

* * *

"Mayura?!"

Loki jerked his head up, as if he had just heard her calling. He got out of his seat and ran for the exit, leaving a Yamino to pay the bill before running after his father. The feeling was so sudden, but he knew it had to be her, like he had a deep connection with her, wondering if it had been created when her wish had been processed.

Even knowing that she was heading home, he could also sense her aura, also finding a faint trace of white thread floating before his eyes, being invisible to others, even gods. It was laced with her innocence, warm and sweet, inviting him to find her.

Within minutes, he reached the spot where she was last seen, and he froze, staring at the truck, stopped abruptly in the road at a strange angle like the driver had tried to avoid something, or someone. He could see a few people gathering into crowds on the other side of the street, along the walkway. He didn't see her at all, but he could still feel her nearby.

"Loki-sama..." Yamino appeared, slightly out of breath, and watched a stunned Loki taking a few steps forward and crossing the road. He slowly passed by the truck and its driver, making sure the vehicle had not cause a terrible accident and praying that she was all right. Guilt, shame and regret all bubbled in his chest, but he refused to believe in the worse.

What he and Yamino found on the other side was much worse.

Mayura was completely unharmed, held protectively in the arms of a young man, her savior with trustworthy, warm eyes of yummy chocolatey goodness and a reassuring smile that could lure any gullible girl into doing small favors. Those were the characteristics of a god!

She couldn't take her eyes off him, not because he was that handsome but he had just heroically saved her - normally it was the other way around for most girls. After a very cliched rescue and much boy-girl lovey-dovey-like scene, Mayura, still in his arms, found her voice again to thank him. Others around them also praised the young man for a daring rescue too, and he smiled proudly, not shy at all from the expected compliments.

But Loki was not impressed. He towered over the pair at the center of attention, his shadow looming menacingly and even his dark aura seeped around them, threatening to choke them. His voice low and deep, almost like animal growling, "What... are... you doing, Thor?!"

"Loki-sama!" Mayura yelped when he reached down and pretty much plucked the girl from her savior's arms, find the security within Loki's embrace much more comforting. His hold on her tightened, securing her form against his chest, her head tucked under his chin, and she suddenly felt very shy. Besides being in such an intimate position with him, she didn't like the unexpected increase of the people around them, now that they had become the center of attention of the whole block.

'Two handsome, young man fighting for the affections of one girl' would be the new gossip of the neighborhood in the following days. So much for trying to keep a low profile with the gods.

* * *

Half an hour later, the four of them, meaning Loki, Mayura, Yamino and the stranger, managed to escape the crowd and hid in the local park, not far from the Daidouji shrine and home. They were huddled together in one of the children's play structure that looked like a dome, an image of a turtle painted, with several circular holes of different sizes on the shell.

"This is humiliating," Loki grumbled.

Mayura glanced at him, snickering, "I think it's funny, hehe. Imagine, a god in hiding from his fans."

He sighed and poked her forehead, "And whose fault is that?"

She pouted, her cheeks puffed in annoyance, "Loki-sama is the popular one!"

"Oh?" he looked at her slyly, dropping an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to him, "Someone sounds jealous."

"No way!" she made a childish face, sticking her tongue out at him, "I'm not jealous of a god!"

He sweatdropped, "That's... not quite what I meant."

"Hey, Loki, are you two dating or something?"

"NO WAY!" Mayura and Loki both shouted at the young man, with the latter adding, "Now explain yourself, Thor. Why are you here on Midgard?"

"Don't call me that," he said, "My name's Narugami Tohru on Midgard."

"..."

Since neither Loki nor Yamino were going to say it, Mayura tested the name herself, "So, Narugami-kun is a god too?" He nodded in reply, while she continued to look at him intently, brows furrowing in deep thought, and he felt a trickle of sweat falling down the side of his face. "Are you," she leaned closer to him, as close as Loki would allow in his presence, "also Loki-sama's kid?!"

The men facefaulted, and Narugami explained, "We're just friends!"

Yamino was glad of it because to think of being related to Thor brought a world of pain and suffering, but that still didn't explain why Narugami came to Midgard, and if Mayura would stop interrupting them with her silliness, he could probably satisfy Loki with an explanation.

"Ah, father sent me to Midgard," he sighed, "Wanted to teach me about earning a living."

"Wait," Loki was confused but found the situation amusing, "Odin kicked you out of Asgard so you could be self-reliant?"

"Yeah, apparently doing nothing isn't good for a candidate of the god of gods. He said this'll build my work ethic and public image in Asgard," Narugami ended with a shrug.

"What a great father!" Mayura praised, and everyone stared at her like she had just dyed her hair an unnatural black color, because Odin being a great father was very untrue - he would probably find it offensive too - and many examples could be given, but that would take forever to list (and Odin wasn't the main character).

* * *

So at this point, now on Midgard, more specifically at the Daidouji home, the man of the house had return later that evening to find the house with an additional occupant. He hadn't even moved from the foyer, still in his outdoor footwear, staring at the scene before him: his daughter was kneeling in _seiza_ ***** style, with a small Loki and Yamino on one side and an unfamiliar face on her other side, all bowing to him.

"Wh-what's going on here, Mayu-chan? And who's this?" he pointed to Narugami.

"Daidouji-san, my name is Narugami Tohru!" he bowed, "I just arrived in Japan, seeking employment. Your daughter has spoken highly of you, and it would be a great honor for me if you allow me an apprenticeship under your care! I will do all that I can to earn your trust and make you proud! I swear to you, Daidouji-san, as a warrior of justice and in my father's name!"

"Please, papa!" Mayura pleaded with her puppy dog eyes, "I believe in Narugami-kun!"

Loki, wearing a flat expression, whispered to his son, "Aren't they overdoing it a bit?"

Really, how could Daidouji say no that, that being the sweet look of his daughter's face, and maybe he was a bit moved by the boy's speech. He sighed, already tired and hungry from his long day, and nodded just to get them out of his path because if he had said no, he doubt he would be able to remove all four of them from the front door.

Here ended another day at the Daidouji house, and after only two days, Mayura had acquired another resident in her home. With a total of three strangers, all being gods, either she had such good luck to be blessed or she was really cursed with attracting trouble.

* * *

***** Seiza is a very formal and traditional way of sitting, by kneeling on the floor and tucking your legs beneath you thighs and resting your tushie on the heels.

**Notes:** Lol, I reread this story and cracked up... so I figured the next chapter should be written. Welcome, Narugami-kun! Should I feel sorry for Mayura-papa, putting him in the house with three gods now? Hmm, which god next? Kekeke. -kuro.


	5. Chapter 5

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Five.**

After a rather crazy and confusing weekend, Mayura was now stuck at school, in the most boring class ever that she deemed as her lifetime nemesis: math class. She tried very hard to pay attention, but all she could really think about, worry about was the three gods at her home with the only company available, her father. The man may have had a sixth sense and was blessed with decent spirit capabilities, which his daughter completely lacked, but to deal with three gods was another matter.

She sighed, wishing she could join Loki and the others on their adventures, would beat the confusing number dancing around her eyes. "Mou, I bet they're all having fun without me," she pouted.

* * *

"Eh... Yamino?"

Little Loki walked into the common room to find his son staring in awe at the box of images that mortals called a television. No verbal response came, so he waved a hand in front of the young man to attempt to break some sort of hypnotic spell, and when he finally blinked, Loki let out a sigh of relief.

"Loki-sama!" he smiled, "Have you seen this?!" He pointed to the television as if it had been the greatest invention in existence.

The god was a bit confused, though he knew what it was having been around for quite a long time, "Yes, of course, it's a television..."

"No, not that, Loki-sama."

Smiling widely, he tried to tell him by gesturing both hands at the screen, without a word as if revealing the obvious in a grand fashion would explain it all, but all Loki could see was a man and a woman standing behind a table display of all sorts of appliances and tools, and some sort of painting with the illusion of flowing water. They were discussing each item - a description, followed by usage and any complimentary remarks - and attempting to sell said items to the public by having them call in and order.

Loki still didn't understand why Yamino had a sudden interest in this particular show, but he sat down anyway and figured he had all day, and all the time in the world, to figure this out, since Mayura was at school and wouldn't be home for a few hours. Speaking of the girl, ever since she left that morning, he had been bored out of his mind. He was going to tag along with her to this school of hers, but Mayura-papa had told him not to distract her and that he planned to speak to Loki's parents about putting him to school, which did not make the small god happy.

He didn't think being in a younger form would be a problem, he couldn't change that now, and there was no way to let other mortals know of his and the other two's existences as gods or there would be a lot more problems on Midgard. As he thought about it, a plan was slowly forming in his head, and he grinned. It was a grin that all on Midgard and Asgard should fear, for when Loki the god of fire and trickery wore that devious smile, it was never good (for the victims) but highly entertaining (for Loki).

"Oh my!"

Loki heard his son exclaimed amazingly and looked at the television screen. The hosts were different now, being both females, with an array of food displayed. "Loki-sama," Yamino started, eyes glimmering at the set of English tea, "they're selling your favorite tea! Straight from London!"

"Ah, so they are," he nodded, still not sure what was so amazing about it, until he noted from the corner of his eye that Yamino was pressing buttons on the telephone receiver. "Uh Yamino, what are you doing?" he asked.

He answered excitedly, "I'm placing an order now, so we don't miss out on it!"

"..."

* * *

Daidouji had no idea what he had gotten himself into when he requested that Narugami start on the yard work, sweeping the front of the shrine. He had been in the main shrine building cleaning when he suddenly heard something crash outside, and immediately dropped the books in his hand and ran outside.

He found the yard had been swept away of leaves, debris, gravel, grass... and the stone pathway!

His jaw practically hit the ground, catching a glimpse of Narugami off to the right. The boy, with broom still in hand, was rubbing the back of his head and staring at the fallen tree.

The Shinto priest stomped over to it, "What happened here?!"

"Ah, sensei, sorry. I guess I wasn't paying attention and knocked it over."

"K-knocked it over?!"

"Yeah," he nodded and demonstrated by sweeping again.

Okay, Narugami started off all right, sweeping the ground like any normal person, but being a not normal person but god instead, his regular speed was lost to Daidouji's vision, when the two of them were engulfed in the severe dirt storm, practically creating a mini-tornado that sucked the man into its center and ripped through another tree.

The loud crash alerted Narugami to his unintentional destruction again, and when the air cleared, the funnel of wind dissipated, Daidouji, was in midair, fell to the ground with a thud.

"Sorry, sensei, forgot my own strength," Narugami helped the man up, chuckling nervously, having forgotten that he was still a god with crazy strength.

"Eh, le-let's work on something else," Daidouji, still a bit dazed from what just happened, tried not to think too much on it because it was just a weird fluke of something! Yes, everything was normal. These things happened every now and then, because well, he was a Shinto priest who dealt with crazy spirits all the time, so why was this little mishap anything at all.

He watched, with a flat expression, Narugami putting each large tree back in to the ground as if it was no trouble at all. So the kid had amazing strength, some potential in him to do great things, and he wondered if Narugami was fed ox milk when he was a baby, or he was a _Kintarou_ of (Japanese) folklore incarnate, which would really explain it.

"Great!" Narugami was pumped, "Are we gonna exorcise spirits?!"

* * *

"Ah Narugami, be careful with that," Daidouji tried to warn, but alas, it came too late, when the shelves broke and all came tumbling down on the poor boy, "It's fragile..."

He wondered if he could ever get the boy to not break something, and to think, it was only the first day on the job. He feared he might not have a shrine to take care of by the end of the week, but still, he couldn't give up so easily. This young man was honest and hard working, if a little clumsy, but he had made a promise to his daughter and to himself, to take care of these boys living under his roof.

Strange as it was that these three appeared out of the blue, with (obvious) no ties to one another, but they got along well, and thrown into the world without anyone to rely on, he felt sorry for them. No child should be without their parents, and a part of him didn't mind being responsible for them. It sure did make the house more livelier, and he had never seen Mayura smile and laugh so much during the past two days.

Another crash brought him out of his reverie, finding Narugami had tumbled right into the wall. He had thought one last attempt at the easiest chore wouldn't be a problem, but when Narugami was involved, everything would be a problem. He sighed and slapped his hand to his face, after seeing the boy, trying to wipe the wooden floor with the wet rag, had skidded forward at high speed from one end to the other, only to be stopped by crashing into the wall.

* * *

By the time, Daidouji and Narugami finished patching up the wall, the former was ready for lunch and wondered what Yamino had made for them. He told Narugami to clean up first and then went to the kitchen. Finding no one was in there, he went to the common room to find Yamino on the phone and Loki just staring off into space. One of the popular shopping channels played in the background.

"Yamino-kun, what's going on here? Is lunch already done?"

Loki looked over to the nervously twitching man and smiled, "Yamino-san is a bit busy. He's been ordering things all morning!"

"What?! Ordering what?" he pointed to the television, questioningly, "From that show?!"

He nodded.

"With what money?!"

Yamino paused from talking with the nice customer service woman at the other end to give Daidouji a sweet smile, "Please don't worry, Daidouji-san. It's a small thanks for all that you've done for us." With that said, he returned to speaking on the phone, leaving Daidouji to gape at the scene.

Loki, chuckling, stood up and said to him, "It's going to be a while. Let's make lunch, Mayura-papa!" He pushed the man out of the room and in to the kitchen, both lost in their thoughts. While Loki was wondering what the easiest thing to make was, Daidouji really wondered what he had gotten himself in to, because weren't these people strangers and he should've done a background check on them before allowing them to stay, but when he thought about Mayura's smiles, he resigned himself with the present state.

One would think a few minutes with one's thoughts was just that, not enough for the kitchen to look like a tsunami had hit it, or a Narugami trying to clean again, but somehow, some way, Loki had managed to have made a huge mess of food across the counter and floor, and even got peanut butter and ketchup all over his face. And was that frosting on his nose?

"Here you go, Mayura-papa!" he grinned, placing the plate in front of him. On it sat a six-inch sandwich with questionable layers of... The man squinted, trying to make out what each layer was. Was that strawberry yogurt? With a piece of leftover steak on it? His eyes moved over a layer of red jello, and to top it off, there was a small octopus sitting on a toothpick that seemed to eye him with the challenge: I dare you to eat this concoction!

He then looked at Loki, who was still grinning, waiting expectantly for him to taste the master piece of a god.

Loki was smiling proudly to himself, at his accomplishment. Who knew he had it in him to be an awesome chef, a genius at creating a good-looking meal out of a bunch of things in the fridge, but he was a god after all, and gods could practically do anything.

Daidouji faced the sandwich again, sweatdropping and praying that he wouldn't die from it. He nervously reached for it, his hands trembling slightly, and mumbled, "_Itadakimasu_..." His voice sounded like the echoes of his last words before accepting his doomed fate, and he took the big ass sandwich into his hands, moving it to his mouth, hesitation on opening. Maybe if he could distract Loki, he could then stuff the thing called food down his shirt or something drastic.

Ew, what was that green stuff oozing out below the jello?!

He stole a quick glance at Loki's large eyes, who were still glued on him, and with a final sigh, he took a bite. He chewed slowly, trying to make out all the weird tastes mixing together. It wasn't half bad... until he hit the mother of all tastes.

OH MY GOD!

Wasabi!

"Mayura-papa!"

Yeah, a hand full of wasabi would knock out any normal person like Daidouji.

* * *

Mayura, overly ecstatic now, almost ran out of the school with her indoor shoes, until her handsome classmate, Kakinouchi Koutaro, stopped her. No one had ever associated with her because of her odd pink hair and crimson eyes, believing that she was a cursed child, but she never let that bothered her, but lately, people have been giving her a lot more stares than normal. And now Koutaro, the most popular guy in school, spoke to her again.

"Daidouji-san," he started, giving her a look over thoughtfully, "are you all right?"

"O-Of course!" she replied nervously, not noticing the group of his fangirls in the background giving her the evil eye. She tried to move back, away from him, but he only stepped towards her. She retreated again, but her back met the lockers.

He looked at her and frowned. It hurt her a bit that he was giving her that sort of disgusted and loathsome expression, but she couldn't blame him for believing the rumors that floated around. He was at least nice enough to ask how she was, totally not expecting to lean down to her, staring right into her eyes and asking her in an almost pained voice, "Are you... afraid of me?"

"Eh? No, I'm not!" she blurted out, "I was just surprised!" She looked down with a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks, "Kakinouchi-kun is nice and popular, and for you to be speaking to a no body like me," when she looked up to him again, she smiled, "it made me happy."

And he blushed, a deeper pink color than hers, because she looked so adorable when she peered up at him with that expression, like a shy bunny peeking from beneath some leaves on a beautiful day in the woods. After seeing her like that, he realized how inappropriate he was positioned with her and moved back, attempting to hide his face behind his hand. With a steady voice, he told her, "Ah th-that's good. You were really out of it today."

"I was?" she blinked.

"Y-Yeah," he breathed, and the blush refused to leave his cheeks as he spoke, "You looked really happy about something, staring off... like you were thinking of something, something really nice and warm."

"Ohh," she giggled, thinking about Loki and the others all day long, and then she remembered she was hurrying home to see them. "Ah I forgot I need to hurry home!" She went to her locker to get her shoes and slipped them on before securing her school bag.

"Sorry, Kakinouchi-kun, I'll see you tomorrow," she gave him a quick bow before ducking away.

"Daidouji-san!" he called to her.

"Yes?"

"Koutaro," he smiled, "Call me Koutaro."

She blushed, "Okay, Koutaro-kun. Then you can call me Mayura! See you, Koutaro-kun!" She waved to him with a bright smile and ran out the door.

* * *

**Notes:** Bwaha, I've been inspired lately... well more like been thinking about how to make Mayura-papa miserable being stuck with three gods, and no Mayura around to save him, or add to the insanity. I sorta have the next plot coming, then boom, another god in the fray! Ugh, I wonder where Mayura would put all these gods! Her house isn't all that big, ya know! -kuro.


	6. Chapter 6

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Six.**

Loki, in his original form, stared at the form of Daidouji, still passed out from his over dose of _wasabi_, now resting in the common room. Yamino had originally freaked out when he found Daidouji's body in the kitchen, thinking that Loki had just killed a mortal with his lethal cooking, and that was why the son never allowed his father anywhere near the kitchen, not that it was needed when they were gods in Asgard, with servants.

But being on Midgard now, Yamino had to be more careful with Loki around, because the moment he took his eyes off the trickster god, trouble would ensue.

Yamino was busy cleaning up the mess in the kitchen while a bored Loki kept the unconscious man company, hoping that he would wake up soon because he doubt Mayura would be happy to find her father in such a state, especially when it was his fault in the first place.

Loki found a black marker and started to doodle on the man's face, just as Narugami finally made his appearance, walking in to the room and sat down on the other side of Daidouji, crossed legs and thinking, as if nothing was out of place in the world. Without looking up, the blonde god could sense something was on his friend's mind and had an inkling of what it was about.

"I've been meaning to ask, Narugami," he started, with a flick of his wrist, he finished drawing a distinguished moustache with a sunshine on the man's cheek, "Where is Mjollnir?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about it," he nodded. "When father threw me out, I must've lost it on the way down here."

Loki gave him a flat expression, "Odin literally kicked you out of Asgard?"

He shrugged, "It was last minute. Heck, I didn't even get a chance to pack! That's why I'm broke and have to stay here with all of you!"

"You think I was prepared to stay here on Midgard?" he glared and sat back. He checked his coat pocket and pulled out a golden ring, grinning, "At least I got this before I left."

It was Narugami's turn to glare, "Oi, isn't that father's ring?"

"Please, he has thousands of them. He won't notice one missing."

* * *

Mayura was happily on her way home, swinging her arms back and forth, until something fell on her head. It bounced off her noggin and fell into her awaiting hands, and the girl stared at the wooden sword, rubbing the bump on her head. Puzzled, she gazed up to the skies, where the object had apparently fallen from. She examined the weapon, finding nothing out of the ordinary about it, looking like any other _bokken_ in Japan.

Her eyes lit up when she saw a name engraved on the blade part of the sword: Mjollnir.

"Ha, what a funny name," she laughed and then turned the blade to the other side, finding another piece of important information, "'Property of Thor' - haven't I heard that name before?" Thinking about where she had heard the name, she carried the sword with her, holding it at her side like a samurai of old. She pretended to unsheathe it in a quick draw, only to create a wide, dangerous arc...

"OUCH!"

... smacking a poor passerby just to her right.

"Ah I'm sorry!" she turned around to apologize, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head, being faced with a huge, bald man with a scar down the side of his face and tattoos running from his neck down to his arms and torso. Now he had another mark across his face, the impression of a bokken clearly visible. The two other thugs behind him were just as huge and badass-looking, all glaring at the helpless, school girl.

"Really sorry?" she squeaked out, clutching the wooden sword for dear life.

"Sorries ain't gonna cut, li'l gurl!" Not all bad guys talked like this, but it just sounded funnier in Mayura's head if they did, if only she actually took her dangerous situation more seriously. "I gots some dam'ges on me, an' yous gonna pays for it!"

She tried not to laugh, but they sounded hilarious, like a comedy trio impersonating a group of _yankees_. Though she did shrink a bit when they towered over her, intimidating her with their giant sizes, "Yeas, yous gonna pay for me bro's med'c fees!"

"Ano," she winced, her cheeks red from holding in her giggles, and dug through the pockets of her skirt to find any money. She was able to pull out a few coins and some candies she had gotten from the principal and showed her open hand to them, "Let's see..." she counted the coins, "That's um, 350 yen... and um two pieces of chocolates and a bubble gum!"

She smiled to them, "Chocolate'll make you feel all better!"

The boss guy - the one that was injured by Mayura - slapped the measly bribe away, unsatisfied by it, but he couldn't blame her for having so little asset to her name, because she was just a high school student! Any person with average common sense could tell they were taking advantage of this girl, but no one dared to go up against three huge thugs in the middle of broad daylight - where the hell were the police anyway?! There was a freakin' _kouban_ - the neighborhood police station - right down the street.

"Yous know whats gonna make me feels betta?" he glared Mayura down while both thugs, in the background, bent down and picked up the chocolate candies and coins.

"Heheh, I could use these for _pachinko_."

"I'm kinda hungry too."

Hearing the lackeys content with their treasure, their boss turned around and yelled at them, "Yous idiots! Don't botha with chump change when wes can gets more from da gurl! We'lls force her home an' take all da val'ables!"

"Yes, boss!"

By the time they finished discussing their plan, aloud, they turned back to the girl, but she had already booked it down the street. She was smart enough to escape while they were distracted, being idiots after all, but the laughter she held in for so long was ringing out melodiously through the streets, and the thugs were not happy, believing that she was laughing at their stupidity, which was partially true.

All the laughing was tiring out her as she ran, and when she glanced over her shoulders, the three were amazingly catching up to her, and she panicked, attempting to run faster, "OH MY GOD!"

* * *

Loki realized that he was cursed with a strange seventh sense, aptly dubbed the Mayura-in-trouble-tingly sensation, that he learned to take seriously because what was more serious than an oblivious, clumsy mortal girl on the streets of Tokyo, alone! He knew something bad was bound to happen when he wasn't near her and wondered if this was the contract's way of keeping them together.

He was running out of the house, with a bewildered Narugami following him. Neither notified Yamino of their outing, leaving the young man to walk out of the kitchen upon hearing the front door slam. He shrugged if off, figuring his father wanted to get some fresh air after being cooped up in the house all morning.

"Why are we running?" Narugami asked his friend, who looked so determined, and the guy wasn't one to do strenuous activities if he didn't have to.

"Mayura. Trouble."

The brunette raised a brow at the two words, impressed that he could sense her being in danger from half way across town. Now if that wasn't a connection of souls, then he didn't know what was, forgetting that this happened because of a wish that the girl had made - or was it?

Loki was focused, following the white thread that would lead them to her, but he had to admit, he had never known anyone to get into so much trouble as she did and it was never boring with her. He smiled to himself and surprisingly ran faster, that seemed to snap Narugami out of his own thoughts and hurried too.

After a few streets and through several crowds of female admirers of the two, they managed to catch a glimpse of the girl running across the street, carrying her school bag and a wooden sword, with three large thugs pursuing her. Loki would've laughed at the funny sight, but he had to rescue a fair maiden first.

* * *

Mayura, about to collapse from all that running, thanked the gods that she had better sense than to join the track team, and with her brain no longer processing her surroundings, she made a terrible turn, right in to a dead end. The concrete wall stared back at her, and she turned around, pressing her back against it, at the sound of footsteps stomping down the alley way.

The three thugs looked more like giant gorillas coming to claim their stolen bananas from a village girl. What could Mayura do in this situation, when she was trapped, and the only escape route was behind her pursuers!

"LOOK!" she pointed behind them, "IT'S KINOSHITA SAKURA-SAMA!"

Being the fools that they were, they turned around, and Mayura charged forward, hoping to slip in between them, but the plan failed. The boss man grabbed her arm, gripping it hard to teach her a lesson not to make idiots out of them, "Yous brat!"

"Don't you know," came a voice above them, "that is not the proper way to treat a lady."

The four looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Up here," came the sigh.

They obeyed and looked up, spotting a figure standing on the concrete wall, hidden dramatically by the shadows of the buildings, but Mayura just knew who it was, just by the way he confidently stood and the sexiness of his voice, "Loki-sama!"

Her face brightened when she saw him step out of the shadows, grinning down to her like super hot, delicious god that he was. She wanted to run to him and jump into her savior's arms, but the boss thug had a very good hold on her. She grimaced at the pain and started hitting him with the bokken, at her limit of annoyance. He grabbed the weapon from her and glared warningly.

Loki took this chance and jumped down, his right hand gathering fire into a giant ball. "I'm your opponent!" he shouted to Mayura's harrasser, and just as the man turned his way, Loki's shoe smashed into his face, and the god propelled himself into the air again, doing a flip and blasting one of the thugs with the fireball.

Narugami appeared at the end of the alley way and charged to the group. He shouted to Mayura, "Daidouji! Throw Mjollnir to me!"

Mayura, now realizing that the sword, a property of Thor, truly belonged to Narugami, grabbed the sword from the boss, who was rubbing his injured face, and threw it to its rightful owner. The god smirked, feeling the familiar weight of the weapon in his hand, and was too obliging to test it out on Midgard against these hoodlums.

The only one that was left standing at the moment was the one thug that wasn't fireballed or kicked in the face, so he had the misfortune of facing off against Narugami, the god of thunder and other flashy and awesome stuff. Both, shouting out battle cries and rushed forward - one with a random metal pipe he had picked up from the alley because he wasn't going to face off empty-handed against the other with a wooden sword.

Narugami clutched the hilt of Mjollnir tightly as he charged to his opponent, dragging the blade of the sword across the pavement, creating sparks of lightning. He stopped short from the thug's reach and swung the blade, arcing upwards, wood insanely slicing through metal, followed by the blast of electrifying lightning that zapped the thug off his feet and unconscious.

With two down, Loki finished dealing with the boss man by shooting a fireball point black into the man's gut, sending him into the concrete wall. He sighed, glad that it was over, and turned to the girl at the center of the situation, with the intention of giving her a lecture on how to stay out of trouble, only to get caught up in her world. She threw her arms around his neck, taking him into one of her awesome, grateful hugs, where she was practically dangling inches from the ground because he was that taller than her.

Yeah, how could Loki stay mad at a cute girl throwing herself at him, so he just had to go with the flow and snaked his arms around her waist too, returning the hug, just silently thanking whichever god in Asgard was carefully watching over her - hoped it wasn't Odin, the jerk.

"Oi, don't I get a hug too?" Narugami grinned at the pair, resting Mjollnir against his shoulder, "I did help!"

Mayura pulled back and glanced at him, giggling, but Loki, frowned, refused to let her go to give the idiot a hug. He told the swordsman, "She found Mjollnir for you, so I believe that is a fair trade."

"Ah, but Loki-sama!" she smiled, her eyes bright and energetic, "You two were so awesome! Like superheroes! I felt like a princess being rescued, but then I missed out on the action! I want to shoot out fireballs and zap evil with lightning too!" She went on and on about how kickass they were, but all Loki could think about was: thank god she was just a mortal. Just imagining her running around the city blasting magic all over the place in the name of justice gave him a headache. He needed to put her on a tighter leash, or else he would get gray hairs like Odin.

Speaking of the god of all gods, a sudden lightning bolt hit the spot Loki and Mayura almost stepped over, as the former pulled the girl back, behind him. He looked over to Narugami, who shook his head, "Wasn't me!"

"Eh, there's some funny writing there," Mayura pointed, and the three bent over to examine the foreign characters. The two gods recognized their own ancient language, leaving the female mortal to puzzle over the writing. Loki frowned, crossing his arms in a sour mood, while Narugami laughed. She curiously asked the latter, because she didn't want to upset Loki even further, "What does it say?"

"Father told Loki to return his ring, or there will be consequences."

"What a tightwad," the blonde god grumbled.

Another zap of lightning added more words underneath, and that made Narugami laugh some more, but he translated it for Mayura, "'I heard that.'"

The girl stood up and gazed up to the skies, in admiration and awe, "That was so cool!" She waved to the skies too, "Hi, Odin-sama!"

"Mayura, don't add to his ego," Loki grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the alley, with a still laughing Narugami in tow.

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, I think I had too much fun with this chapter. I really had forgotten about Mjollnir, so I had to squeeze it in. I just couldn't leave Narugami naked-I mean, defenseless without his weapon! Lol... *blushes and looks away*

I could just imagine Loki getting jealous over Mayura admiring Odin and his cool powers, lol. More so than over Koutaro, a mortal. Okay, seriously, I'll add the next god... *crosses fingers*

Lol, and yes, the "oh my god" is a running gag... which I thought was hilarious, but it'll get old soon. -kuro.


	7. Chapter 7

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Seven.**

"Ano, Loki-sama," Mayura started, uncertain about the situation they were. She poked her head around the corner, and just down the street was her school. She looked down to her side, where Loki stood, impatient with her hesitance, "are you sure about this?"

"Of course," he sighed, "This will be the only way I know you'll be safe and stay out of trouble."

Feeling insulted, she pouted at him and stuck out her tongue in defiance, "Bleh, I'll show you how safe I can be!" She started to march off, but he tugged her hair, pulling her back. "Kya! Loki-sama!"

He twirled the ends of her hair between his fingers playfully and kissed the tips, making her blush. "Remember, I'll pick you up after school. So stay here. And. Do. Not. Leave."

She huffed and puffed, a mixture of anger and embarrassment, wanting to pull her hair out in frustration at being treated like a child... by a child, who was really a god, but still, it was ugh, out right annoying! Satisfied with her cute reaction, he shooed her off, like a parent sending his child off to school on the first day. She stomped away, with a red face and steam blowing out of her ears, and he just chuckled, watching the interesting mortal disappear through the gates.

* * *

So another day of math class, but this time, the numbers weren't bothering her as much as a certain god did. The look on his face every time he teased her to rile her up, she couldn't help but think about it and blushed. He seemed to do that every chance he got, mainly to her but he did pull a few pranks on Narugami, but geez, if this was how he passed the time in Midgard, she wondered how he acted at home.

Now she felt terrible, thinking about how her wish had forced him to remain on earth, away from his home, and even poor Yamino, missing his father, came down to stay by his side. So touched by the love, she unknowingly sniffled and rubbed her eyes, wiping the moistness away before she started crying at her selfishness that kept families apart.

"Daidouji, are you okay?" she heard her teacher's voice ask.

She looked up and blinked, hoping her eyes were normal enough to pass for being okay. She was about to reply when Koutaro raised his hand, "Sensei, I don't think Daidouji-san is feeling well. I'll take her to the nurse's office."

Now all eyes were on a shock Mayura, who still had no clue to what was happening around her, which was typical of her in match class though, but when this weird girl sat there, one moment looking annoyed and pissed off, then suddenly did a 180 turn and blushed like no tomorrow, followed by depression and guilt swallowing her whole, there was something definitely wrong.

The teacher made the right decision by agreeing to Koutaro's suggestion, allowing the two students to leave the classroom, both oblivious of Koutaro's fangirls glaring at Mayura's back, though she did shudder at the strange feeling. She walked quietly, side by side, next to the handsome blonde, and he periodically glanced over to her, wondering whether he ought to break the silence.

"You were making all sorts of faces today," he started, staring upwards, and she looked at him, "I've never seen anyone so expressive before."

She blushed when he turned to her, a smile so kind yet teasing too, reminded her a lot of Loki, so her automatic reaction after that was puffing up her cheeks in annoyance, "I'm not here to amuse you, Koutaro-kun."

"Haha, I know, but you're so cute. It's hard not to notice..."

After he said that, he quickly looked away, hiding his blush from his sudden, unintentional confession, but luckily, Mayura was a lot more dense than that, a bit confused on whether he was trying to compliment or insult her looks, having an odd color hair and demonic-colored eyes, which made her stand out in a crowd yet also separated her from others too.

"Ahem," he coughed, "anyway, um, I was wondering if you had time after school."

"Hm, well I just go home," she said with a shrug, "Papa worries too much."

"Ah I see..."

"Why do you ask, Koutaro-kun?"

"Err well," he hesitated, not sure why he was suddenly so nervous to suggest an outing with her when he could easily invite any of his friends. Sure, he liked her, but it was a few easy words to say, "I... wanted..."

"Oh! We're here!" she announced, haven't quite heard Koutaro's start of his invitation, with hand on the door knob of the nurse's office. "Thanks for walking with me, Koutaro-kun!" she beamed.

"Ah sure," he smiled, hands stuffed in his pocket. "Let's do something together some time," he said quickly and casually and then walked off like the cool, popular guy that he was, even though his heart was beating 200 beats per minute.

* * *

Loki had just taken a sip of tea when he just stopped and put the cup down, returning it to the saucer. He and the others - excluding Daidouji who went to see a client alone, so Loki was in his original form - were in the middle of lunch, but a strange prick of a feeling had hit a nerve. His thoughts immediately went to Mayura, but he was certain she wasn't in any danger, or else his whole body would be screaming that to him, yet he couldn't explain why he was very bothered by it.

Yamino, seeing the disturbed expression of his father's face, tried to remain calm, "Is it not to your liking, Loki-sama?"

"Hm? Oh no, it's delicious. I was thinking about something."

"Ho~ I bet it's Daidouji!" Narugami laughed.

Loki glared at him, "It's not that. You guys don't feel it?" Yamino and Narugami exchanged questionable looks, as he continued, "It's almost like, a disturbance from Asgard."

"Uuh," Narugami eyed his friend, "You did return father's ring, right?"

"You mean this?" he pulled the said golden ring out of his pocket and grinned.

"The brunette just rolled his eyes, "Father's gonna be pissed."

Yamino blinked, "So what exactly did you put in the box, Loki-sama?"

"Oh nothing much," he smiled mysteriously, which was a totally bad sign for them, and returned to drinking his tea.

* * *

Of course in Asgard, Odin had just received the box that was sent from Midgard, already feeling smug about forcing the thief to return what was rightfully his. He really didn't care about one missing ring from the lot of thousands, only wanting to prove that he was the badass, all-knowing god in charge, and no one was about to pull one over his eyes while he was around, especially not that blood brother of his.

He lazily opened the box, one flap at a time, and upon seeing a piece of paper, he unfolded and read the words: "Fit for a king. From your brother, Loki."

He rolled his eyes and dug through the layers of tissue paper to find the content that he wanted, but Odin was not a happy god. He grimaced, letting his fingers run over the object, and eyed his servants, and with one look, they scurried away in fear, leaving the god of all gods fuming in his own anger.

Odin pulled out the object and set it aflame, torching the gaudy rhinestone butterfly ring from Mayura's princess childhood days to something smelly and unrecognizable.

* * *

As promised, adorable, little Loki returned to Mayura's high school to pick her up that afternoon and soon found himself surrounded by many of the school girls, who found his appearance just darling and cute - so much for not trying to stand out on Midgard. But who said he didn't love the attention. Of course it was easy to pretend to be the cutest and sweetest boy on the entire planet.

"I wish I could take you home!" some girl squealed.

"Your sister or brother must be so lucky to have you!"

"Let me hug you!"

"Let me kiss you!"

"Marry me!"

"Err, isn't that illegal?"

Okay, so Loki could do without the attention of female mortals and prayed that Mayura would hurry up. He was spending valuable time waiting for her, so degrading for a god of his status. Peeking over the girls, he could see a flash of pink, and quickly excused himself because his sister had arrived. All saddened by the cute boy's leave, they kept their eyes glued to his person as he made his way over to Mayura, and all gasped at the information, "That weird girl has such a cute brother?!"

Loki had noticed immediately of the cheerful smile she wore speaking to the male student beside her and mentally frowned, because she only gave those particular smiles to him. But he expertly masked his dislike of the new face and greeted Mayura normally, with a slight pout, "Nee-san, you're late!"

"Ah, Loki-sa-err, Loki-kun!" she sweatdropped, totally forgot about Loki picking her up, "Sorry sorry!"

"I didn't know you had a little brother, Mayura," Koutaro looked surprised, thought he knew the general stuff about his classmate.

"Ah, ye-yeah..." she rubbed the back of her head, nervously.

Loki sighed at the terrible face of a liar, but he changed the topic, wanting to find out more of his male mortal because he was being too familiar with his 'sister,' "And who is this, nee-san? Your boyfriend?"

"Mou, Loki-kun!" she puffed up her cheeks. Whether out of embarrassment or anger, neither of the two males could tell, but from Koutaro's blush, Loki had an idea of the young man's intentions. "Don't be so rude," she scolded.

"Iya, haha," Koutaro chuckled nervously, "I'm just Mayura's classmate, Kakinouchi Koutaro."

"Oh?" he looked at the older boy slyly, "You seem interested."

His words implying that Koutaro had a particular interest in Mayura, which the guy didn't deny, but that statement made Koutaro take a careful look at the boy before him. For being a small brat, he sure had keen eyes, and there was something in those green orbs that was almost frightened, as if he knew more than he let on, maybe even creepy coming from such a precocious child.

Mayura looked at Loki, then Koutaro, and finally back to the boy, since the two were having some sort of silent stare down. She interrupted them, taking Loki's hand and apologizing to her classmate, "Sorry, Koutaro-kun, I should take Loki-kun. Perhaps we can hang out another time."

"Ah right. Of course."

"See ya, Koutaro-kun," she waved and pulled a very unsatisfied Loki along like he was behaving like a bad child.

The two walked through the gates, right by Loki's and Koutaro's fangirls, all glaring at the bubbly, pink-haired weirdo. It wasn't like Mayura noticed, but Loki certainly did, not liking the vibe the girls gave either, and gripped the girl's hand tighter. He started to walk faster too, now his turn to drag her along.

She began to notice his brooding silence as she stumbled after him, "Loki-sama~! You're walking too fast!"

He stopped and released her hand. He raised his own to his temple and massaged it a bit, "What am I going to do with you, Mayura..."

"What are you talking about?" she rubbed her sore hand where he had gripped too hard.

He didn't realize he had hurt her, "Sorry."

"I don't know why you're in such a bad mood now," she looked at him, steadily meeting his eyes, "I thought those girls all over you would make you feel better."

He raised a brow at her comment, finding the strange tone of her voice interesting because he swore there was a bit of jealousy laced beneath it. He didn't even realize that she had even noticed him with the group of girls, but the scene was probably hard to miss either way, but because of this distinct reaction from her, he was in a better mood, wanting to test how far he could go with her.

"I'm sensing some displeasure here," he smirked.

She crossed her arms and raised her nose in to the air, denying such a feeling was bubbling in her chest, "Loki-sama wishes!"

He laughed, "I don't wish. I know."

"Hmmf, know it all!" She stuck her tongue out at him and stomped away, steam blowing out of her ears again, hoping to leave him behind.

He smiled, always enjoyed riling her up, and followed her, "I'm a god, remember." He had to keep an eye on her, because she was such a troublesome mortal, and never a dull moment with her.

"Oh, careful with that step," he warned, a bit late as she took the step, shoe hit a crack in the sidewalk, but she didn't fall, stumbled awkward forward, trying to regain her balance.

"Not funny," she whined, with him chuckling next to her. He held out his hand to her, lightly offering his assistance to her, and still fuming, she didn't hesitate to accept anyway, despite all his teasing and joking, he still cared. They continued their adventure home, hand in hand, a picture perfect moment that could go in to a photo album if anyone bothered to keep up with one.

CLICK! WHOOOSH~!

Oh yes, someone did. Someone was taking snapshots of these two specific people for nefarious deeds, and it wasn't too form any sort of fanclub. But, seriously, who would take pictures using a polaroid camera in this day and age? And why was such person hiding in the trashcan?!

"Heheh, I've found your weakness, Loki," the boy cackled, rising from the trashcan with the lid still sitting on his head.

Several passersby gave him sympathetic looks, shaking their heads at the sorry state of youngsters these days. He glared at them with his one left visible eye beneath his violet hair, "WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU MORTALS LOOKING AT?! HAVEN'T YOU SEEN A GOD BEFORE?!"

"Mommy, gods live in trash cans!" a cute, sweet girl pointed to the boy.

"Sweetie, don't point at the crazy people."

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, okay, two updates in one day?! I must love you guys~! *hearts* And I've been inspired lately. I can't stop thinking about this story! There are so many gods that need to be added! And I wanted to get in more MayuLoki moments! It's the base of the story, ya know! *cheers*

Anyway now you know who the next god is! Poor, crazy Heimdall... I think his quest of revenge on Loki made him a little nuts. *grins* And I actually didn't plan to put in a scene of Odin, but he is not a happy god, lol. And the poor gods stranded on Midgard will face his wrath soon. I feel so evil... -kuro.


	8. Chapter 8

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Eight.**

Mayura rubbed her eyes, all dressed cutely for a nice Saturday morning, entering the kitchen to find just her father and Yamino present. She sat down at the table just as their house caretaker brought a plate of English muffin with a mixture of fruits on the side. She stared at the delicious-looking food, wondering where these had come from, her eyes roamed over to the center of the table where small dishes of various jams were available. She watched her father happily spread the raspberry jam across a slice of bread and eat it.

"Papa! When did we get these?"

He glanced to Yamino, who happily explained, "I received them in the mail this morning, Mayura-san. There was such a good discount on it the other day, I just couldn't help myself!"

"Wow, I didn't know we could do that!"

He nodded, his face eager and bright, "Did you know, Mayura-san, you could practically order anything by mail! They even have mail order pets!"

Daidouji sweatdropped, "Yamino-kun, please don't get carried away."

"Aha," the girl giggled, taking a bit of her breakfast. After a happy tummy of food, she finally asked the unspoken question, "Where are Loki-kun and Narugami-kun?"

"They went for a walk this morning," Yamino explained, clearing some empty plates into the sink.

"Hmm, really?" Mayura crinkled her nose, thinking, because it sounded very suspicious.

Daidouji finished eating, wiped his mouth before speaking, "I have a few clients I have to see today, so you kids behave yourselves. Yamino-kun, when Narugami returns, please tell him to..." he flinched, wondering what chore he could give the boy without wrecking the place, "err, sit. Yes, just sit still... and do nothing."

Yamino and Mayura shared quizzical glances while the man just shook his head and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the two to ponder over the events that had happened during the week.

* * *

"Loki, are you serious about this?!" Narugami huffed out as little Loki shoved the swordsman, who was pretty much glued to Mjollnir ever since the recovery of the weapon, to a public phone. The boy, with hands on his waist, glared up at him as if warning him of future consequences if he didn't go through with it.

"I don't have any other choice," he sighed, "This is the only way to convince Mayura-papa of this," he waved his hand in the air, "charade, which I might add, you are involved in too."

"I don't know," the brunette smiled, "I'm actually working hard!"

Loki rolled his eyes, "Destroying the shrine isn't work." He reached up to the phone receiver and handed it to Narugami, "Just make the call, pretend your my dad overseas, say you're delayed and won't be here for another three months. I don't need to be enrolled in any schools here and am very intelligent and self-reliant."

Narugami sighed and accepted the phone, still glaring at the kid, "You know, you really deserve that title of trickster god." He saw Loki shrug, wearing a smug grin, and then pressed the number to the Daidouji house. He coughed, clearing his throat, thinking a deeper voice would fit this father persona. He stiffened when he heard the phone clicking and Yamino's voice greeted him.

Loki tried not to laugh at his friend's sudden serious manner, attempting to fill the role of a profession businessman working overseas, his voice dropping to a deep baritone, "Ahem, I wish to speak to with Daidouji Misao please. This is... Loki's father..."

* * *

"Yamino-san," Mayura started, walking down the sidewalk with a bit of a bounce in her step, a bright smile on her face, "you didn't have to come with me."

The young man, smiling nervously, tried not to let the various stares around him bother him, but he wasn't used to so many people watching him so intently. He just didn't realize that being a son of a god would attract this unwelcoming attention, not that he was ashamed of it, but he was always content of being in his father's shadow, to be the quiet wallflower that the other gods overlooked.

"I, um I was planning to do some shopping for dinner tonight," he came up with the lame excuse, which wasn't a bad idea since he didn't have a menu for dinner yet, and Daidouji was going to return late tonight too. Besides, his father wouldn't want to have Mayura unprotected, so this was probably the best method to keep her guarded while they did some quick shopping.

"Where would you like to go first, Mayura-san?"

"Hmm," she slowed down, thinking about it because she really didn't have a particular place in mind. She just wanted to get out of the house for a bit and had hoped that she could show Loki around the neighborhood, her favorite places to go, just spend some time with him.

When she stopped and looked around, she spotted a small store across the street and pointed, "There!" Yamino followed her finger to a tea shop as she continued eagerly, "I bet Loki-sama would love that store!" She grabbed his wrist and hurried across the road, and the young man smiled, thinking that he wasn't the only one who thought of Loki as a priority, and it made him happy that they shared a common interest.

CLICK!

Another photo was taken by the mysterious, stalking boy, but this time, the mortal girl was not with that deceitful god, Loki, but one of his broods. All week he had been tailing the girl, hoping to get her alone, but it was difficult when Loki had clung to her side like a leech, and the times she was at school didn't allow him to get any closer either, but now, it was perfect. Even if it was just Jormungand, he could handle the demi-god.

But now, he had to get rid of the trash can first. He hopped out of the container as if it was the most normal thing on earth to do, ignoring the various questioning looks his way, and carefully stalked the pair a few feet ahead of him. So far, so good, he kept an undetectable distance, but it looked very suspicious to other people, who thought the little boy was following his sister and her boyfriend on a date.

He followed the two right in to the tea shop, and that would be his chance to separate them. He just had to put on a good act, so he messed up his hair a bit, getting it disheveled, and he blinked a few times, getting his eyes moist. He hid behind a display, keeping an eye on Mayura.

"I'll look over here a bit, Yamino-san," she told him and walked to the corner, looking at the pretty display of teapots and teacups. Most were Japanese style, but she found a few rare European sets, and one stood out, a simple porcelain material with a golden filigree design below the rim while green leaves fluttered around the cup. She reached a hand out to pick it up, but the tug on her dress made her stop. She looked down to her side and found a cute boy, around young Loki's age, staring up at her.

"Nee-san," he sniffled, "I can't find my mom! Please help me find her!"

"Aaw, I'll help you for sure!" she patted his head, "What's your name?"

"Higashiyama Kazumi," he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the store before she could even utter a word to an oblivious Yamino, who was in the middle of deciding which of the new three tea flavors to get. By the time he made the final choice, he bought all three since Loki drank tea like he breathed air, and Daidouji always appreciated them too. He looked around for Mayura, ready to pay for the purchance, but the girl was nowhere to be found.

Shocked, the tea bags dropped from his arms, and he knew it wasn't a good sign.

* * *

"Aaw, aren't you two from the Daidouji shrine?" an old woman at the fruit stand asked, patting Loki on his adorable head. She even gave him a bag of oranges for being so cute.

"It's true, isn't it?" another woman asked.

"Ooh, I should stop by there more often!"

"You're so handsome!" a lady complimented Narugami, "I have a daughter about your age!" She handed a pastry to each of the boys, thinking how he would make a wonderful son-in-law.

"Wow, thanks!" Narugami nudged Loki, whispering, "If I knew we'd get free food like this, I'd be out here all the time."

"Oh?" the little god looked at him slyly, "What about a certain promise of making sensei proud?"

"Of course, a god keeps his promises! I can take on as many jobs as I want." He glanced down to his friend, "Unlike someone unwilling to contribute."

Loki ignored his remark as they waved farewell to the kind ladies and continued on their way home, but they didn't get too far when a familiar voice caught their attention. They looked back and saw a panicky Yamino running up to them, and seeing the young man like that, Loki knew what was wrong, but he hadn't felt anything disturbing within their connection, "Where's Mayura?!"

"I'm sorry, Loki-sama," Yamino hung his head low in apology, "We were just in the store together, but when I looked back, she was no long there."

"She couldn't have gone far," Narugami suggested, chewing on the pastry, "Maybe she just went to the next store?"

Yamino looked more trouble than the other two, with the feeling of abandonment lingering in his mind, but he didn't want to believe Mayura was that type of person to have just left him alone like that. She would've said something to him before leaving, so something must've happened to her.

Loki had been quiet, concentrating on his connection with the mortal girl, and even though she was in no immediate danger, he could see the white thread that linked him to her. He started to follow it, leaving the other two to watch him, and quickly trailed after him.

"You guys worry too much," the swordsman sighed, "What if she just wants some alone time?"

"She's not like that," Loki informed him, looking serious and determined to track her down. He never forgot how lonely and sad she looked when they met that first time, and he didn't want to ever see her like that again.

"Huh, sounds like you got to know her very well?" Narugami held Mjollnir behind his neck, across his shoulder, and rested his arms over them, "Even in this short amount of time on Midgard? And besides, how are we going to find her in this big city? Are you following a trail of bread crumbs she left behind?"

Yamino glared at their talkative companion, finding all his chattering very offensive, and he wished he could stuff more pastries into his mouth instead.

"If you must know," Loki began, "I can sense her, whenever she's in trouble."

"Oh, how convenient," he whistled, "So how's she doing now?"

"She's safe, but I don't like this. It's been much too quiet lately." He thought about the past week, having felt something odd in the air, but he couldn't pinpoint the problem. He had remained by Mayura's side as much as he could as a precaution, but everything appeared normal, even his childish ploys to foil Koutaro's invitation wasn't suspected by either.

But if someone had been waiting and plotting, they were very skilled to remain undetected by two and a half gods - considering Yamino was the half of one - for a few days, and today would be a good day as any to put any sort of plan into motion. Whoever had taken the opportunity of the division in the group and isolated Mayura further, and the only type of person that would be as underhanded and practically all-knowing... was a god.

"Keh," he clenched his teeth and broke into a run. Narugami and Yamino, without a clue as what had prompt the god in such haste, hurried after him. "Damn Odin," he cursed, "He better not be behind this!"

* * *

"Huh?"

Mayura walked into the empty warehouse, looking about the poorly lit space without a single worry about her own safety or any suspicion on the boy who took her to such an obviously dangerous place.

"Kazumi-kun?" she called out to him, having lost his small form since he led her there.

He had just been right in front of her, very certain his mother had gone this way for some strange reason, and she believed him. What a gullible mortal, and he couldn't understand why Loki had become attached to her. He watched from his lofty position as she moved from one point to another, searching for the missing boy. Not afraid to get dirty, falling on all fours to check behind all nooks and tight spaces, she was quite persistent.

And her curiosity was another matter that he found interesting, like a kitten poking her nose in to all sorts of trouble, even when it was obvious that she ought to turn back. She was going to be Loki's downfall, and he would gladly use her to his advantage against that trickster god, tearing him apart slowly.

"Kazumi-kun?" her tone laced with worry.

He sighed, annoyed with the pitiful emotions she dared to give him, and with a snap of his fingers, the darkness within the warehouse slithered at his command, towards the girl. The shadows wound up her leg and quickly up the rest of her body and around her mouth before she could let out a blood curling scream, because it felt creepy and gross like a snail had crawled up her leg.

* * *

"Mayura!"

Loki practically heard her voice screaming in his head. He would be going insane now, if it wasn't for the existence of the white thread that grounded him on the path to her. He took several turns down narrow alley ways, farther and farther away from the bustling streets, but as long as he was getting closer to her, he didn't care.

A few more minutes of running, and they arrived to what appeared to be an old factory, having been abandoned for some months now. The three looked around for anything suspicious, but it was very quiet, only the echoes of the faraway streets lingered in the background. Narugami stepped up to the doors and pressed an ear to it, glancing back to Loki and shaking his head.

"I feel her inside," he stated and shoved he doors aside.

The daylight flooded in to the dark space, and he followed the path of light, and it illuminated on the centerpiece of the room. Dangling from a rope from one of the iron beams, an unconscious Mayura hung as obvious bait. Angry that she was treated that way, a haze of power swirled around Loki, engulfing his small form within it, and in mere seconds, his original form ran forward, intent on saving the girl from a doomed fate.

* * *

**Notes:** Cliffhanger? Not very dramatic, but there's the next chapter for your happy reading! Lol. -kuro.


	9. Chapter 9

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Nine.**

Loki was busy rushing to Mayura's dangling form, leaving Narugami and Yamino to deal with their ominous surroundings. Still without a clue to the kidnapper's identity, the sound of the doors shut grabbed their attention. Narugami ran to them and tried to pull them open, but it was completely shut tight. He stepped back, noticing the shadows of the room climbing the walls, a magical seal trapping them within the space.

Narugami, with Mjollnir in hand, fully alert, stepped back, scanning one side of the place while Yamino checked the opposite side, both making their way to Loki and Mayura.

The blonde god jumped high into the air to Mayura, but a falcon flew by, forcing him away from the girl. He had blocked the attack and landed on the ground again, glaring at the recognizable creature still flying through the air, and it finally landed on the left arm of the one man- err, boy that would dare pull this crap.

"Heimdall, you..." Loki growled.

"Welcome, Loki," he smiled, his features slowly twisting in to semi-insanity.

"What the hell, Heimdall!" Narugami shouted at him, waving Mjollnir in a disapproving manner, "Why did you come to Midgard looking like a kid?"

Yamino glared at Narugami, "Mayura-san is more important!"

"You think I wanna look like this?!" he yelled back, having ignored Yamino's comment, and pointed to Loki, "This is all Loki's fault!" He began to tremble as he spoke about his horrifying ordeal that caused it all, anger welling up inside his small body, "If it wasn't for Loki stealing my right eye, I wouldn't be in this mess! I wouldn't be stuck with half my powers, in this pitiful body of a child!"

He roared, his hatred and negative energy filled the space, even scaring his pet falcon away, and the building shook from the madness. The aftershock continued, Mayura's form swaying in the air, worrying Loki of her safety. He didn't want to fight Heimdall with her stuck in the middle of the conflict, so he would have to try reasoning with words.

"I don't have your eye!" Loki stated.

"YOU DARE LIE TO ME!"

It looked like he wasn't going to convince him otherwise, but Mayura's safety was still first priority to him. "Even if it was true," he was quickly losing patience, but he had to remain calm and keep the situation from escalating into a battle, "there's no need to involve her in this!"

"You can blame yourself for that, Loki! You dragged her into this mess!"

Those words hit a sore spot because he knew it was very true. If it wasn't for her wish, he wouldn't be on Midgard bringing his problems with him to her, but there wasn't anything he could do about the wish itself. He was running through several plans in his head, but each scenario would get Mayura injured.

He suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder and looked, finding Narugami's hand there. His friend smiled, "Deal with Heimdall. We'll take care of Daidouji."

Loki had been too focused on trying to save Mayura alone, that he had forgotten his allies of family and friends by his side. He would definitely take care of Heimdall, himself. He jumped into the air and landed on the same beam as his rival, who took a step back in surprise. The look on Loki's face was of determination, unforgiving for putting the girl in harm's way, and it worried Heimdall a bit.

"Don't you care about her?!" he pointed to the girl hanging right below them.

"And that's why I will end this quickly," he smiled, raising his hands up, his power over fire dancing within his palms.

Heimdall gritted his teeth, furious at his rival's confidence, and summoned the darkness, black lightning cracking around his fists, and he ran forward. If one were to look at the overall picture, the scene of battle did appear a bit odd, an adult pitted against a child - was that even a fair match?

Of course it was! Remember, Loki was still on probation so his powers were as limited as Heimdall's own because of his missing right eye. So at this point in time, both were pretty much evenly matched despite their difference in size, but then Heimdall could fight dirtily too, anything for his precious eye!

The falcon returned, swooping back at Loki's head, and started to peck at his noggin with his beak, only for the god to grab the annoying bird and throw it aside. It was a perfect distraction for Heimdall to run up and kick Loki in the shin, which only earned him a 'you've got to be joking' glare - when did they stoop so low as to get in childish antics? Even the stupid bird didn't let up on pestering Loki, who was forced to jump to another beam to get away from it, and Heimdall followed, laughing at how pathetic the god looked.

Now Loki was pissed, no one was going to make a fool out of the trickster god, and to make that point, he snapped his fingers and lit the falcon on fire. The bird's eyes budge out of its sockets, being fried in midair, and he went plummeting to ground zero with a thud. Heimdall, appalled at the defeat of his poor pet and only friend, pointed to the despicable god, "You... You hurt my dear Gjallar!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Narugami was trying to get Mayura down, but he couldn't even get close enough. There was some sort of barrier that surrounded her, and even with Mjollnir, he couldn't nick it at all, but he refused to give in, attacking it from all directions, while Yamino, wearing a flat expression, did not look amuse at all. He pushed up his glasses and sighed, knowing that thinking was not the swordsman's strongest asset.

Even with Heimdall's strength cut in half, he was able to maintain the barrier without much concentration, which meant that he had additional assistance from beyond the own powers. Yamino swept his eyes around the warehouse, noting the boarded up windows, tightly sealed doors, with the only few light sources being small holes through the roof and Loki's flame attacks.

Yamino hit a fist to his palm in epiphany, "Ah, he must be using the natural darkness!"

He turned to the busy swordsman, still whacking away with a series of _kiai_, verbally expressing his fighting spirit by shouting (nonsense) with each strike of the sword, "Hiyah! Raah! Ghee! Hiyah! Rata-ta-ta-ta~!"

The glasses-wearing demi-god sweatdropped and shouted to him, "Narugami, summon your lightning powers! It should shatter the darkness!"

He stopped, floating in midair, and looked down at Loki's son, "That's pretty smart, Megane!" He grinned, still drifting in front of Mayura's unconscious form, holding Mjollnir with both hands, and tried to focus, and Yamino, below, tried not to laugh because the thunder god looked constipated when he was concentrating his powers, channeling it through the wooden sword.

"Here we go!" he growled, pulling forth all his powers, making the sword glow with power, "MJOLLNIR! SHINE FORTH, THE POWER OF JUSTICE! THE SHADOWS OF EVIL SHALL NOT PREVAIL! HO~RYAAAAH~!"

"He's being overly dramatic," Yamino sighed, "But I can't tell if this is a shoujo or shounen series anymore."

At its wielder's command, the sword illuminated brightly, its rays of pure light and energy reaching every corner of the warehouse, even blinding the other two gods in the middle of their own fight. With his powers at the peak, Narugami swung the flashy sword down, smashing it in to the barrier. The shield was still trying to hold his attack, sending sparks of electricity in all directions, wwo powers antagonizing each other.

"Dammit!" Narugami struggled some more, "I said... HO~RYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!"

"Will that really work?" Yamino wondered doubtfully.

The strength of his shout re-energized him and his faithful Mjollnir, and together, they overcame the force of darkness, their light of justice shattered the evil barrier trapping the innocent maiden. The wild leftover lightning zapped him and the rope tying the girl in place, luckily avoiding her person, and her body fell. Yamino rushed under the falling girl and caught her in his arms.

With the two powers going into overdrive, still crashing against each other and bouncing all over the space, Yamino summoned his own protective barrier to keep Mayura safe. He had little power, being only a demi-god and nothing comparable to full-fledged ones, but it was enough to protect those important to him.

* * *

Indescribably pissed, Heimdall pooled his remaining powers and whatever was left of the darkness contained in the warehouse in to a giant ball of black lightning in front of him. This was going to be his final trump card against all of them, and he didn't care for the consequences of his actions on Midgard. He had come too far to turn back or give up at this point. Yes, he maybe a tad suicidal in this method, but that wasn't the point at all.

For the memory of his right eye!

He sent the giant lightning ball the looked more like a black hole-like nebula thingie directly to Loki, wanting to annihilate him first, but Loki was a god of awesome and epic proportions and just had great luck on his side. His shield of pure flames, burning at impossible levels of heat that didn't even exist on earth, pushed back against the black lightning, which continued to press against his barrier. He masterfully controlled his flames, ordering chains of fire to emerge from the shield and wrap around the ball, attempting to hold it in one place.

He couldn't destroy it with just his powers alone, and in seconds, he caught a flash of light come from below. He smirked when a still radiating Mjollnir pierced into the black ball, and he quickly sent a wave of fire over the dark abomination, creating a thick barrier around it just as the power of Narugami's weapon exploded from within the dark energy. The aftershock of the many powers of the gods colliding at one point shook the whole warehouse, the ceiling and roof and walls began to crumble around them.

The whole neighborhood could feel the tremors, the citizens believing it to be a sudden earthquake and not the conflict of several gods, and in a few days, a destroyed warehouse would be counted as collateral damage from a natural disaster.

When all was calm once more, in the middle of the fallen building, like a scene from a future apocalypse, Yamino's barrier flickered before it finally vanished, and he collapsed to the floor, next to Mayura's body. With a sudden poof, smoke appeared and disappeared just as quickly, and Yamino had been turned in to a small, light-blue snake.

From a nearby rubble of bricks and concrete, Narugami dug himself out of it and grabbed Mjollnir that had landed nearby. "So that's what a big bang feels like," he groaned before passing out into a deep slumber.

Loki, in his child form, was leaning against a wall when he regained consciousness. He looked at himself, not remembering that he had willed himself to change, but instead of worrying about it, he got up and hurried to his companions. He found the other immortals safe but in strange states as well, and checked on Mayura, who appeared to be waking up. She moaned, and he helped her sit up, "Mayura, are you okay?"

"Nn, Loki-sama?" she yawned, "I had the strangest dream ever!"

A sigh of relief left his mouth, but the girl could never let him have a moment of peace, squeaking in horror, "Oh my god! Kazumi-kun is a ghost?!"

Loki, confused, followed her pointing finger to a sulky Heimdall's form, which had lost any solidity to it, becoming more clear and transparent, like a ghostly apparition. The idiot couldn't have just died like that, because he was still a god, even with half his powers, so why was he walking around like a depressed ghost left to wander the earths with unresolved feelings.

"Eek, a snake!" she shrieked and scurried behind Loki.

"That's just Yamino," he informed, picking up his son and placing him on top of his head so he wouldn't get crushed by Mayura.

"What happened?" she finally looked around the destroyed warehouse and gasped, "Kazumi-kun is haunting the place he died in!"

"NO! I DIDN'T DIE!" the boy's ghostly form yelled, "Gods don't die so easily!"

Loki tried to returned to his original form, but he couldn't at all, "Heimdall, what's going on here? I can't turn back. And why is Jormungand like this? Even Thor has passed out."

Frowning and upset that he had to have the same fate as his enemy, he explained, "This is Odin's punishment for using our powers on Midgard. It's a powerless state that we're stuck in for 24-hours."

"Dammit, Odin!"

Having him exiled on Migdard wasn't enough, Odin just had to make things worse for him and all the other immortals, and most of them didn't even have their full powers.

"Wow," Mayura stared at them, amazed. Any normal person would've screamed and ran off, but this was the troublesome mortal who attracted anything from car accidents to godly kidnappers, not to mention she missed most of the good parts. "Gods are so cool! Even if all of you look so weak and helpless right now, heheh."

Yeah, that comment didn't go very well with Loki and Heimdall, whose forms were the only ones that could really glare at her. Yamino, curled up on his father's head, could only sigh at his sad state, and the girl, originally had been afraid of him, found him quite cute. Seeing him so sad, she couldn't help but try to cheer him up, "Don't worry, guys, we can get through this! Just 24-hours, right?!"

Heimdall watched Mayura lift Yamino up and look at him like he was the most fascinating creature on earth and then glanced at Loki, asking him, "Does she take anything seriously?"

The boy smiled, his eyes remained on the girl and the snake, "Beats your gloom and doom."

* * *

Later that evening, Daidouji had returned home, finding his shrine and house still in one piece, believing it was some sort of miracle, but these things were, most of the time too good to be true. He cautiously unlocked the front door to the house and stepped inside and discovered the place to be eeriely quiet. A deep fear nestled in his stomach as he took it slowly, slipping on the indoor footwear and padded across the threshold to the common room, where the faint sound of the television played in the background.

He was taken aback by the peaceful sight of the residents of the house. Narugami was flat on his back, snoring away, Mjollnir gripped securely in his hand and a blanket halfway kicked off his person. Mayura had dozed off on the couch, head propped up by an arm on the armrest, while on her other side, Loki leaned against her body for warmth, with another blanket covering them both.

On the table, a pizza box was left opened, two slices remained, and as he neared the group, he thought he saw one of the pizza slices move. He shook his head, thinking he was just imagining things, and walked to the television to shut it off. The kids must have had a long day too, so he let them be, and when he was leaving the room, he wondered where Yamino was.

Back in the pizza box, Yamino's snakey head popped out from beneath the pizza, and with a few more wiggles, he was comfortable enough to fall asleep underneath the warmth of the food. He barely got his eyes closed when the sound of a male scream erupted from the hallway, followed by a heavy thud. Yamino's head perked up, just as Mayura and Loki jumped to their feet.

The two hurried out of the room, stopping abruptly seconds later to see the unconscious form of her father on the floor. They silently turned to the transparent Heimdall holding a glass of water in his hand.

"What?! I was thirsty!"

* * *

**Notes:** Geez, that was more action that I expected. I haven't written any major action in a while - I hope it was satisfactory. And welcome, Heimdall! Poor Mayura-papa, thinking he saw a ghost, lol.

Anyway, next up will be... dundunduuuun~! Not telling!

Sorry if some of you wanted _Love Me and More_, but I'm on a roll with this story, so this has been all I've been working on, lol. Gomen! -kuro.


	10. Chapter 10

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Ten.**

So the next morning, Daidouji was barely awake at the kitchen table, holding an ice pack to his head. He looked like hell had manifested into a being and ran him over with a truck, staring at his daughter, then to Loki. He sighed and put the ice pack on the table, "So Yamino-kun is visiting his family?"

Mayura nodded, having agreed to make up some excuse for Yamino's so called absence from the house, and that was the only thing that came to mind, "It was really important, but he'll return this evening."

"Hm, where exactly is he from?"

The girl started to sweat and glanced at Loki, who shrugged and gave her the 'don't look at me, I'm not from Japan' expression. She glared at him before turning back to her father, "Yokohama?"

Daidouji raised a brow at her response, "Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Yokohama!" she said it more confidently, slamming her fists on the table for more emphasis.

Loki sighed and figured he should take over the explanation, "His grandparents live there, and they are his only family left, so they wanted to make sure he was doing all right in Tokyo."

The man nodded, understanding, "Speaking of families, I spoke to your father yesterday, Loki."

The boy grinned, "Is that so?"

"Yes, we spoke for a bit," he rubbed his chin, recalling the conversation, "He seemed adamant about you not attending school."

"I had private tutors back home."

"But still, you need to interact with kids your age."

"Mou, Loki-sama acts like a kid all the time," Loki heard Mayura mumbling to herself and stealthily reached over to poke her side, and she yelped in surprise.

"What was that, Mayu-chan?" her father gave her a strange look.

"N-Nothing," she fumed, glaring at a content Loki.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Mayura's bedroom, Heimdall, still in his transparent from, was laying on the girl's bed, eye staring up at the ceiling. It sucked not being able to do anything that wouldn't cause misunderstanding with his current appearance, and now he was forced to remain in the mortal girl's room to stay out of trouble, as Loki had put it. Just the thought of the blonde god made his blood boil, even more insulting was having to stay under the same roof as him and the others.

He didn't expect his plans to fail, because he was that over confident and arrogant, having ignored the presences of Narugami and Yamino. Even less expected was Loki and Mayura, his kidnapped victim, to accept him within their home, and the latter had insisted that she couldn't turn away a homeless god in to the unfamiliar streets of Tokyo. As honest as the girl was, he knew Loki had only agreed to the idea so he could keep an eye on him.

"Che, bastard," he grumbled.

The knob turned, and the door opened as he adjusted his head to see the visitor, and it was only Mayura entering with a tray of food for him. He, hiding a tiny smile, quickly sat up when she brought it over to him. "Good morning, Heimdall-sama!" she greeted with a big smile, "I hope you slept all right in Yamino's room. And sorry that you have to hide out in mine, but papa won't come in here to bother you though."

"Ah, it's fine," he picked up the bowl of miso soup and began to sip it. He stopped when she continued to stare at him, "What is it?"

She shook her head, "I just think it's so cool you can still eat and drink like normal, but you look like a ghost!"

He shrugged and asked, "Where's Loki?"

"He's with papa," her gaze moved up to the ceiling, somewhat thoughtful, "Hrm, they're trying to wake up Narugami."

Heimdall snorted, "There's no way that idiot will wake up. At this rate, he can sleep through the end of the world!"

"Haha, I bet!"

* * *

Narugami, still sleeping in the main room, rolled over in his sleep, hugging Mjollnir like the most comfortable pillow in the world, leaving Daidouji and Loki to stare down at his form. The man had tried several methods of trying to wake the boy up, but nothing had work. from shaking to kicking and even smacking his head a few times, followed by Loki's suggestion of holding his nose and closing his mouth so he couldn't breathe.

They gave up after the young man's face turned a light shade of blue, not wanting to have to deal with burying a corpse in the backyard - as if the idea of killing the idiot prone to destruction wasn't the problem!

Loki glanced to the man, "Mayura-papa, you have a useless student."

"Please don't remind me," he groaned and stood up, mumbling to himself, "At least he isn't wrecking the place." He had another day of visits to his clients again, wondering when his work and home life would find a peaceful balance. He walked out to the hallway and looked around, his thoughts returning to what he had seen last night, something akin to an spirit, and he felt ashamed that he had fainted from the sight of it. He, a Shinto priest, who dealt with spirits on a regular basis.

He shook his head at the terrible memory and ready himself to leave for another day of work. Mayura had come down the stairs just in time to see him off. "Take care, papa!" she kissed him on the cheek.

"Okay, you kids be good," he somehow had to reiterate that every time he left them behind, because he always had a bad feeling, "I'm off." She watched him leave, then the door closing after him. In the distance, the sound of a motor scooter revving up and then drifted away.

"Hm, so he left?" Loki's voice rang out behind her. She turned around and nodded, finding Loki holding out the empty box of pizza from last night, and a very happy Yamino, in his front coat pocket, appeared to be in dreamland, because he had just eaten the last two slices of pizza for breakfast.

Mayura peered down to Yamino, rubbing her finger on his head in a scolding manner, "Mou, Yamino-san! You're going to get fat!"

"Oi!" Heimdall called out to them, stomping down the stairs like he owned the place, "I'm bored!"

Loki's right eye twitched, but before he could get a word out, Mayura suggested, "Well why don't you and Loki-sama play together." The two boys glared at her as if she had spoken the most forbidden words, "Aren't you lucky, Loki-sama! Your friend-god came down to play with you!" She smiled and giggled as she slipped on her shoes.

"Where are you going?" Loki asked, the more pressing matter had become her at the moment, forgetting that Heimdall even existed.

"Oh, I have to buy groceries for tonight's dinner since Yamino-san and I didn't get a chance to get them yesterday." She grabbed her jacket and person and was ready to leave when Loki stopped her.

"I'll come with you."

"Eh, it's fine! I won't be long."

Loki's grip on her hand tightened, refusing to let her go, as he moved closer to her. With a hushed tone, he told her, "You. You are not leaving me alone with him."

Mayura looked confused. Her gaze went from Loki to Heimdall, then back to Loki. She blinked a few times and then patted Loki's hand reassuringly, "I understand completely!" She straightened up and faced the other boy, "Heimdall-sama! I forbid you to bully Loki-sama!"

Loki fell over, and Heimdall fell back, laughing, and somewhere in between the fits of laughter, he managed to promise not to bully the infuriated, blonde god. Satisfied with the blossoming of a murderous friendship between the two gods, Mayura was able to slip out of the door without any more resistance, making a mental note of what she needed for the evening's dinner, thinking curry chicken would be a simple and good meal.

* * *

He had no idea where he was, after dropping down from Asgard in to this foreign land, but one thing he knew was he had to find his father. It was vital, critical, for the sake of his sanity that he find the god of fire and trickery and all that gave Odin a headache, but in this mess of a world, he didn't know where to begin. His nose scrunched up, trying to decipher through the mixture of mortal smells, hoping to pick up the one scent he was familiar with.

"OH! Such a cute doggy!" some girl came over to pet him.

He barked furiously at her, 'Don't touch me, filthy mortal!'

The little girl looked at him with large, teary eyes and suddenly bursted into tears, and her mother quickly snatched her away from the psychotic dog, who was yet foaming at the mouth.

He just turned his head away, like the proud animal that he was, tail flipped up behind him as he trotted down the sidewalk. He made it to the corner and looked around, seeing no one resembling his target. He sat down by the flower pot and began to howl, 'Daddy, where are yo~o~u~?!'

A few people stopped by and stared at the apparently heartbroken dog that was howling to the traffic light and then moved on with their lives when the dog stopped and looked around again, wagging his tail happily, 'Daddy, daddy?!'

He sniffed the air again, walking around in circles until he could finally pick up on the distinct scent, faint but close by. Determined, he ran off, ducking between legs, nevermind confusing the people around him into falling all over each other to avoid squishing the small animal. He was a puppy on a mission, and no pathetic mortal was going to stop him, or distract him with a fallen donut that just happened to roll right in front of him.

Free food, hell yeah!

He snatched it right up as he dashed by, being hungry and all.

* * *

So far, Mayura hadn't learned her lesson of going out alone. She had tripped over her own foot walking normally down the sidewalk, followed by getting a splash of water unintentionally by the old woman a block away, and running in to a lamp post then mail box and finally a tree after that. But somehow through the ordeal, she made it to the supermarket, bought what she needed, and was on her way home...

... until the grocery bag ripped, and the contents fell to the ground. With a heavy sigh, she knelt down to pick them all up, stuffing what she could in to the other prestine bag. Maybe she should've let Loki come with her, then he could be carrying her things instead, since that was what boys did for girls!

Her hand froze at a strange sensation, creeping down her spine. She looked up then to her sides and finally behind her, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, but she was recognizing the signs of danger. She hurried with the packets of curry, holding both bags in her arms, she stood up and made a run for it. The feeling never left her, heart beating so fast, and she, for once, felt scared without Loki.

She could almost sense this great power, like a giant shadow of godzilla stomping after her. If he caught her, he was going to throw her into a pot and make _nabemono_ out of her. She could just picture herself drowning in the broth, along with other meats, cabbage, carrots, daikon, etc. Okay, so she was hungry with food on her mind, but most of all, she was never going to leave the house without Loki from now on.

"Woof woof... daddy, daddy! Woof..."

Err, was she hearing things?

Mayura stopped running and looked back to see a black puppy running up to her and barking angrily at her, 'You're not daddy!' he began to sniff the confused and mysterious girl, 'But you smell like daddy! You pretty, mysterious, witch girl! What did you do to daddy?!"

"Umm, puppy?" To any normal person thinking that they heard the dog talk would have gone crazy, but not Mayura, because she lived with bunch of gods. Probably because of being around so many, she was able to hear this certain puppy.

She reached her hand out to him, but he pulled back, growling, 'Aah, daddy's scent is all over you! YOU ATE MY DADDY?!'

"What?! No!" she cried, "I didn't eat your daddy! Wait, who's your daddy?!"

His eyes enlarged, and he barked at her, being just as puzzled that this mortal understood him, 'You... can hear me?!' She nodded, and he started to run in circles in a panic, 'You ARE a witch! Oh my poor daddy! To be eaten by this pretty, mysterious witch girl!' He stopped running and fell in to an attacking stance, 'I'll avenge you, daddy!'

He jumped at Mayura, who just caught him into her arms and cuddled him like a little baby. "Oh you're so cute!" she cooed and held him up to her face, "Oh yes, you are!"

'Whaa... what are you doing?!' he barked, 'You... I won't fall for your tricks! I won't let you seduce me!'

All the while, he struggled within her secure hold, trying to refuse her feminine charms, but it was quite difficult when she was super cute, and it was so obvious that the puppy was smitten, even if one couldn't see the deep pink tinge across his cheeks.

She rubbed her cheek against his furry self, "You're so silly, puppy! Why are you fighting so much? I won't hurt you." She stared in to his round eyes, only warmth and kindness radiated from her crimson orbs, and even though he could see the truth of her words, he couldn't deny that his father's smell was on her, but he was no where to be found.

"Aaw, don't be so sad, puppy!" she hugged him, "I'll help you find your daddy, okay?"

He peered up to her, his tail unknowingly wagged, 'You promise?'

"Of course!" she gave his snout a kiss, a sign of her promise.

"There you are, Mayura!" came Loki's out of breath voice behind.

"Hmm?" she stood up, and with one free hand, she grabbed her groceries at her side before turning to meet the boy, "Loki-kun?"

"I felt yo-"

Loki was going to explain how he had felt Mayura in a panick and rushed out of the house to find her but all of that was cut short by the happy barking of the puppy in her arms, 'Daddy, daddy! IT'S REALLY YOU!'

The black puppy jumped out of Mayura's arm and ran over to the boy, tail wagging so much that it probably had a mind of its own, 'Daddy, daddy, don't you recognize me? It's me, Fenrir!'

He bent down to pick up the animal, "Of course I know my own son, but why are you here, Fenrir?" He gave his son a pat on the head, but the reunion didn't last very long because the sound of a bag dropping on the pavement turned their attention to the pink-haired girl in front of them.

Her mouth opened, staring at the two unbelievably, but with all that had happened in the past week, she shouldn't be surprised by this at all.

Fenrir barked at her, 'Daddy, I think the pretty, mysterious, witch girl is in shock?'

She pointed at Fenrir, "He's your son, Loki-sama?!"

The little god nodded, "Yes, my eldest."

Her brows furrowed in confusion briefly as she exclaimed with enthusiasm, "Oh my god! I can't believe I didn't see the resemblance before! He's super cute!"

Loki looked at his son, both sweatdropping, and sighed, "I'll explain later."

* * *

Poor Daidouji returned that evening to have dinner with his daughter and their new makeshift family. He was pleased that Narugami had finally woken up from his strange sleep, having a huge appetite afterwards, and even more thrilled with Yamino's return from his trip. But what he was uncertain about were the two extra presences at the table, one in the form of a Higashiyama Kazumi, who claimed to be Loki's cousin who had just arrived from overseas.

He didn't quite see the family resemblance, but then again, he and his own daughter had little similar features too. He tried to shrug it off, but the animosity between the two boys was very clear.

'Daddy, can I have more food?' came Fenrir's barking from Loki's lap.

The Shinto priest stared at the puppy, wondering why he barked so much, and raised a brow when Mayura was waving a scolding finger at the dog, explaining, "Don't eat so fast, Fenrir, or you'll get a tummy ache!" It was like she was lecturing a child, and he wondered if the dog could even understand her. And just where had she picked up the stray from?!

He sweatdropped when Narugami stole some food off Kazumi's plate, the latter fighting for his meal, while Loki's plate was being filled with more food by a motherly Yamino.

Well, the house was pretty much composed of strays that Mayura picked up anyway!

* * *

**Notes:** Okay, so the third chapter uploaded today! Lol, that'll be it for now. I had to add Fenrir before relaxing this weekend. Lil bro's birthday.

My sympathies for Mayura-papa. How many gods now? Loki, Yamino, Narugami... Kazumi, Fenrir? Wow, lol... and there's still a few more to go!

I just realized some characters have been OOC too, like Koutaro and Fenrir here... lol. *shrugs* It's okay with me, at least with Koutaro, I kinda need him like that, lol.

Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying it! Thanks for reading and reviewing! It'd be nice to know if you guys like this or not, where it's headed and all! Any feedback would be great, and I appreciate those that have left me kind and encouraging words! Thanks a bunchies! -kuro.


	11. Chapter 11

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Eleven.**

"Ma. Yu. Ra. Repeat after me!"'

The girl was kneeling in the common room, speaking to a very attentive Fenrir, who was staring up at her. For the past fifteen minutes, she had been trying to teach him how to say her name, instead of continuously calling her, 'But _pretty, mysterious, witch girl_ sounds so much better.'

She pouted, "Hrm, but it's so long to say! MA. YU. RA! And I'm not a witch. C'mon, Fenrir! If you say my name, I'll give you a treat!"

Loki, in his full form had been sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper, snorted in amusement at her bribery, which earned him a glare from the girl. He was lucky Daidouji had taken Narugami for the afternoon to make a few deliveries for some clients, leaving a rather peaceful day for the rest of the family, at least until Mayura had returned from school.

She pointed to him, frowning, very adamant on teaching Fenrir to properly say her name, "Mou, Loki-sama! If you won't help me, then stay quiet please."

He folded the papers and set it in his lap, looking at her, "Isn't it time for a certain school girl to do her homework?"

She puffed her cheeks in annoyance at being reminded of school work, trying to procrastinate it as much as possible because she hated her math class so much. "But that's so booooring~!" she whined and then crawled over to Loki, plopped next to his legs. She rested her chin on his knee and peered up to him, "Loki-sama! Let's do something exciting!"

Well that certainly grabbed more of his attention, wondering what she had in mind, but he was already thinking of a few exciting things that a man and a woman could do. From the angle was looking down at her, almost like a master to his very obedient and cute servant, he smiled to himself at the different scenarios he came up within his head. Oh how he loved her round, crimson eyes gazing at him with pure innocence, trusting him with her whole body.

Fenrir's eyes widened at the recognition of his father's lecherous expression, 'Daddy! I know that face!'

"Hush, Fenrir," he ordered the puppy, giving a warning look to him. He turned back to the girl and licked his lips, feigning ignorance, "And what did you have in mind, Mayura?"

She reached deep in to her skirt pocket, digging for something which seemed to take a few seconds, her pink tongue poking out between her lips as she concentrated, looking so adorable he could eat her up. Loki grinned when her face brightened as she had found what she sought.

A pair of what appeared to be tickets waved in his face.

* * *

That evening, the house seemed completely quiet except for Yamino, in the kitchen, making dinner for everyone who appeared to be absent from the place. He went down his mental list of residents and accounted their current whereabouts, according to what they had told him before they departed.

He heard the front door open and close, and the voice of Daidouji rang through the empty house - at least he and Narugami were home, so he had some company, but he would have preferred everyone to be home for dinner. As strange and humorous as it was, to have a bunch of gods gathered in a single place on Midgard, it felt comfortably satisfying that they had become such a quirky family in a short amount of time.

"Something smells good!" came Narugami's voice, and Yamino could practially see the drool danging from the young man's mouth. The brunette appeared in the kitchen, asking, "Where's Loki and Daidouji?"

"They went out for a bit," he answered.

"Oh good, more food for me!" he rubbed his hands with great anticipation, only for his joy to be cut by Daidouji's knuckles bopping his head, "Sensei."

"When will they be home?" the man inquired.

"An hour or so, Daidouji-san."

All was silent again, and no one bothered to acknowledge that Kazumi had also been missing all day, but normally by night time, he would return, heading to his room, or sometimes joined the family for dinner, despite being a complete, moody loner. He gave off that certain vibe, in addition to the murderous intent aimed at Loki, and Daidouji always wondered what kind of hostile relationship the cousins had, but neither seemed to want to discuss it.

Not only did they rarely spoke, they practically avoided each other complete. While Loki was around the house a lot, especially around Mayura, Kazumi was absent most of the time. These kids really had issues: Loki, always around adults, acted way too mature for his age, and Kazumi, the lone wolf, who appeared to despise all forms of interaction, whether one was an adult or child.

But it seemed that Mayura was able to poke through that shell of his, having several times dragged the boy to dinner or talk to him, which only upset Loki even further. And soon, it began a battle of getting the girl's attention, and just thinking about it gave Daidouji a headache, so maybe it was good that it was just the three of them tonight.

* * *

"Hmmm..."

Mayura, with Fenrir in her arms, and Loki stood in front of the recently opened aquarium that she had tickets to, but the place was empty. They looked from one side to the other, and it was just the three of them there, quite strange indeed. Loki rubbed his chin in thought, "Are you sure this is the one?"

The girl checked the name on the ticket again, "Yes, this is Koutaro's place. He said it opened last weekend and many people came, but the ticket sale hasn't been great since yesterday - no one came! So he gave these to me."

_Mysterious Water World_ was an investment venture of the Kakinouchi family, having created a one of its kind type of adventure exploration of the underwater world in the district, hoping to attract a variety of people to the area. Different tours were available, including games and learning activities for the younger crowd, and there were also nice, secluded spots for couples to enjoy on their dates. But strangely, since the day before, it had done the opposite.

"Oh? I'm surprised he didn't offer to take you," he eyed her slyly.

"He was being nice," she crinkled her nose at him, "He told me to take my little brother..." then gave him a flat expression, "and why did you come with me like this anyway?"

"Does it bother you?" he grinned, leaning down to her, nose almost brushing against hers.

She blushed, "O-Of course not!" She hastily turned away walked over to the ticket booth, where an old man stood. She gave her tickets to him just as Loki joined her, and she asked the man, "Why isn't there anyone here? This place looks fun."

"We're not that sure, Miss," he shook his head, "You are the only customers today."

"What a mystery!" she exclaimed.

'Something smells funny,' Fenrir sniffed the air.

"Please enjoy yourselves," the man bowed and watched them enter the property, adding quickly, "Have a good date!"

Mayura wanted to correct him, but Loki's arm pulled her close to him to silence her. She glared at him, but his profile was all serious business, and she found it odd. Even the puppy in her arms was restless, and he jumped to the ground, growling at the aquatic arena. Loki held her wrist, making sure she was still at his side, because he couldn't afford to lose her in this confusing mess.

"Loki-sama?" she called.

"I don't know why I didn't feel it before," he murmured to himself, trying to find the source of the negative energy that had encompass the place.

'Daddy, there might be a barrier that stopped it from going outside.'

"Ah! Is this place cursed?!" Mayura asked excitedly.

"You could say that," he looked at her, slightly amused at her reaction, "Aren't you afraid?"

"No way! This is the most action I've gotten all week!"

She smiled and began to stalk off, with Loki in tow since he still had a hand on her wrist. He wasn't too happy about her decision to pursue this mysterious curse, and Fenrir trotted along side them, remaining alert and vigilant, though he was occasionally distracted by the colorful fish swimming back and forth. The aquatic creatures seemed undisturbed by the odd feeling.

They walked around for a few minutes, eventually Fenrir leading them with his nose, trying to find the source of the negative energy, with plans to rid it from the place so everything could return to normal on Midgard. Loki suddenly stopped, pulling the girl protectively closer to him, and the dog began to growl at the sound of footsteps heading in their direction. The dim lighting of the so called underwater tunnel didn't help the ominous mood, as the steps sounded clearer, echoing within the narrow space, suitable for lovers embracing each other.

It only took Loki a few seconds to figure out that the footsteps just belonged to a regular mortal, he grinned and noted the girl's focused and intense expression staring in to the darkness. He shifted his hand from Mayura's lower back to even further down her body, giving her bottom a sudden smack. She cried out suddenly in fear and surprise, jumping high in to the air, and when she landed, she glared at Loki who was chuckling at her response.

She rubbed her bottom, "You're terrible!"

He reached an arm out to her, wrapping it around her waist again, as he continued to tease, "Let me make you feel all better then." Her face turned completely red at how close he was to her, but she pressed her hands against his chest, turning her head away from him.

"Fenrir!" she called, "Do you something about your dad! He's bullying me!"

The puppy just sat there, watching them with a happy tail wagging side to side, 'I've never seen daddy in action before! I have to take notes.'

Mayura pouted and pushed Loki's face away, "You're being a bad example for your son."

The blonde god stared down at Fenrir, not all happy about the girl's rejection nor his son's attention, "You're a few centuries too young." He returned to Mayura, grabbing her cheeks and pulling them, "And you, you'll never get a boyfriend like this."

"Why would I want a boyfriend?" she huffed in annoyance and grabbed his hands, trying to pry them from her face, "I already have a god."

Loki blinked, for once befuddled by this mortal girl's words, but before he could even respond to it, another voice took over, "Ah, I thought I heard people down here."

All three pairs of eyes turned to the speaker, who was just Koutaro, slightly blushing at what he had just seen for a couple of seconds. He stared at the couple before him as Mayura pulled away from Loki, "Koutaro-kun, thank you for inviting us here."

"Ah, it was my pleasure," he started, eyeing the man near his classmate, "I was happy to have you, Mayura-san, and... erm, where is your brother? And who... is this?"

"AH... umm."

The girl was at a lost at what to say or how to explain Loki's true appearance, not expecting to have a run in with Koutaro that warranted an explanation, but the god, already knew what to say, let the girl stewed a bit longer in thinking of a solution in retribution for turning down his advances. He didn't like the way Koutaro was staring at the stuttering girl, with such adoration that he had to wipe off his face immediately before he started gagging.

Loki stepped behind Mayura, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, and placed his chin on top of her head. He smirked triumphantly at the shock and horror on the young man's face, practially crestfallen in to despair.

"Loki-sama!" the girl cried, indignant at being caught off guard.

"Loki?" Koutaro repeated, confused, "Isn't that your brother's name?"

"Loki isn't my brother!" she blurted out, fuming, and still wrapped up in the god's embrace, and she knew better than to struggle further at this point. When Loki was enjoying himself while others suffered, he wasn't going to end it so soon, and the amusement in his voice did not bring her any comfort.

"That's right, Loki isn't her brother," the god smiled, giving her a squeeze. "Little Loki is her soon-to-be stepson."

"WHAT?" came out of Koutaro's and Mayura's voices.

"Don't be so shy, Mayu-chan," he told her, dropping his head down to her shoulder, where his breath brushed against her ear. He placed a gentle kiss against her temple as the color of her face nearly matched her hair, "Won't you introduce us?"

The girl, still horrified at what he had just announced, remained speechless and frozen in his arms, and her classmate, very unsure and suspicious, wanted to pry the man's hands from her, but he couldn't make a scene at his family's empty business place. He returned to his more professional demeanor and bowed, almost robot-like but his gentle tone was another matter when he spoke of the girl, "Kakinouchi Koutaro, Mayura's classmate and friend."

Loki kept his pleasant mask, trying not to twitch at the familiar usage of the girl's name, and gave her ear a nibble before speaking, "Jashin Loki."

Mayura cupped her bit ear, face completely red by now, staring over to a smiling Loki, having no idea what kind of game he was playing, but if it continued any further, she would snap, not able to take any more of his teasing.

"Koutaro-kun!" she shouted, interrupting the stare down between both men, "We know why you don't have any customers!"

"You do?"

"We do?"

"It's been cursed with bad energy!"

Koutaro looked at her doubtfully, but Loki confirmed her words with a sigh, "It's true. Have you done anything different? Any rearrangements? Additions?"

"Well," he started to think, "We did receive a _Ebisu_ statue as a gift, yesterday morning."

"Where is it now?"

"It's in the main exhibition room."

He made a gesture for them to follow him, taking them through the tunnels that eventually opened up near one of the smaller rooms of the main exhibit. They walked through that room and appeared in the large one, and in the middle sat a large bronze statue of one of the Seven Lucky Gods, _Ebisu_ - the god of fisherman, luck, and the common working man, something Narugami could probably relate to.

Fenrir started to growl at the stature, and in seconds, the air became thick and heavy, swirls of the negativity converging at the point of the statue, the cause of all the aquatic center's trouble. And how much of that was a problem? All the thick glass of the tanks slowly cracked and then shattered in to thousands of pieces, water flooding the floor, and all the poor fish and aquatic creatures flopped on the ground.


	12. Chapter 12

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twelve.**

"Oi, sensei!" Narugami called, walking in to the main shrine building, after making his rounds of the perimeter of the family estate. He found his master in prayer at the altar, and after he was done, Narugami continued with his thoughts aloud, "It's getting late, and those two aren't back yet.

"They could at least call."

He quietly wondered if Mayura got into trouble again, but then, Loki and Fenrir were with her, so she should be fine, unless Loki used up his powers again and turned into a child. It was a possibility, one that he would rather not think about when it concerned his friends, but if Heimdall had come down from Asgard and tried to kill Loki, then there was a chance that someone else could do the same.

He frowned, thinking how stupid Loki had made so many enemies in Asgard because of his mischief and pranks when he was bored, but on Midgard, he believed that Mayura outranked him in that area, having attracted more trouble than he thought any mortal could ever do. But he noticed that the girl was not any danger as of late, being the conflict with Heimdall had been the most recent one.

Speaking of said god with a missing eye, Heimdall had been quiet too, and Narugami wondered if he was plotting something. Loki had stood by his words, having reiterated many times that he never saw Heimdall's eye, much less knew anything about it.

"That's it," Daidouji's voice brought Narugami back to the present, "I'm getting that girl a stupid mobile phone."

A rather odd realization considering it was the modern era where everyone had a phone, just like they had a website detailing every inch of one's life from going to the bathroom to getting a poll on what to wear to the handsome doctor's office. Okay, he would just stick to a simple phone for now and worry about the details of his daughter's life in the public eye for another time - praying that such a site did not exist.

Daidouji had every right to be worried about his daughter at that particular time of day, but he should actually feared the company she was in.

* * *

The giant, bronze statue of the god _Ebisu_ had come to life, slowly moving each leg like a baby taking his steps for the first time in his life. A tad hilarious on watching the large god walking like a toddler, and all Mayura and Koutaro could do was watch with a sort of fascinated horror. It felt like a twisted play on the horror genre, where the surviving teenagers - a boy and a girl - were left to defeat the monster or serial killer in the end, but this particular story had a god and his son involved.

And Loki wasn't going to have another guy take his climatic spotlight, nor the girl. He grabbed Mayura and whispered quickly, "I need you to take Kakinouchi out of here."

"But-" she was hesitant, not wanting to leave Loki alone to deal with the thing, even if she had no powers to help him.

"I'll be fine," he reassured her, "I just can't have him seeing any more than this."

She nodded and ran to a semi-paralyzed Koutaro, grabbing his hand, telling him they had to leave and call the police, not that she planned to, but she just needed an excuse to get him away from the scene as Loki had requested of her. In a way, it was her own way to protect Loki and his secret.

When the two mortals were out of sight, Loki focused on the moving inanimate object. Having setting his sights on the blonde god, it began to waddle in that direction, and Fenrir, still by Loki's side, tried not to laugh at the enemy's movements, 'Da-Daddy, that thing... aha, it looks, ha, so funny."

As if it had heard Fenrir, the statue began to shake with anger, causing the surrounding area to tremble along with him, but Loki was able to remain on his feet. He used his powers to create an enclosed sphere of fire around the statue, but with one stomp of its foot, the water on the ground blasted into the air and put out the flames. The astonished look on the god's face was an understatement, never had anyone been able to extinguished his mighty flames before, even with mere water, but when one thought about it, he was on Midgard with half his powers, so yes, anyone - even a mortal fireman with just spit - could put out the fire of the once powerful, trickster god.

'Oh no, daddy, your fire!'

"EBISU SMASH!" roared the statue as his large fist came crashing down on Loki, who jumped out of the way in time. His fist had missed the god, but it slammed right in to the floor, causing another large tremor, and the walls began to shake, whatever was still standing was now crumbling to the ground. Another fist came down, and Loki snatched Fenrir into his arms and rolled out of harm's way, and the remains of the ceiling came tumbling down on the statue.

As if a pile of random debris was going to stop this huge beast, and it only took five seconds for the pile of rubbish to explode in all directions, Loki's deliciously handsome face getting a nick in the process. The statue let out a rumbling roar as it stood, pounding its fists against its chest - like one mimicking from a King Kong movie. It had no one to blame but its stupid self for the destruction it caused, that inadvertently hindered its own freedom.

A focused Loki tried to form a plan to defeat the thing, and he knew he had little time to do it, if Mayura had not been able to convince Koutaro from calling the authorities. He had to move fast before any casualties could befall the mortals, but with his flames not working and Narugami wasn't around - no time to make contact with the others - he could only rely on the one thing he had.

'Daddy...'

He looked down and saw Fenrir staring up at his face, the puppy eyes wide and horrified that the minor injury was bleeding. "I'm fine, Fenrir," he tried to console him, "It's not serious."

But the dog was still staring at the crimson line, oozing a bit of precious, immortal blood, unconvinced of this travesty. His blood boiled, the thought of his father being hurt was unimaginable, but to actually witness it was unforgivable. How dare that hunk of metal dare to raise a fist and slam two down at his beloved father. That thing was going down, Fenrir style!

Loki watched his son's eyes glaze over and the power of a demi-god seeped out of him, a dark aura enveloped them in a flash, and when the god opened his eyes again, Fenrir was no longer in his arms. Instead, Loki found the real form his eldest son in all his glory standing before the _Ebisu_ statue, like five times bigger than that fat, metal junk, practically encompassing the main exhibit hall. Even the low height of the ceiling wasn't enough, the gigantic wolf of darkness had to cower a bit, but that didn't phase the statue at all, being so tiny in comparison, almost like a bronze ball that Fenrir was about to play with.

Fenrir growled and opened his mouth, revealing several rows of sharp teeth, before he chomped down on the statue, snapping it within his mouth, like he had just eaten a really tough, three-day old meatball left by the trashcan.

Loki, sweatdropping, had no choice but listen to his son chew and grind on the statue, and probably lost his appetite during the whole ordeal. What surprised him even more was Mayura's appearance, holding what appeared to be a dolphin figurine or paperweight, "Loki-sama! Fenrir! I've..." she stared up to the ceiling, "come..." Her eyes enlarged, "to..." and the arm holding the figurine dropped to her side, "help?"

The god would've laugh if it wasn't for the supposedly serious problem they were in, that Fenrir was trying to take care of. He walked over to her and sighed, "I meant for you to stay safe too. Where's lover boy?"

She crinkled her nose in confusion, turning to him, "Lover whaa...? Oh, you mean Koutaro-kun. He's fine."

"He didn't call the police or anything?"

"Oh he was about to, but I stopped him." He raised a brow, wondering if she knew how to use her feminine charms to convince the boy otherwise, and that thought disturbed him. She continued speaking, lifting up the figurine with a sheepish smile, "I had to put him to sleep."

Oh yes, the image of Koutaro being knocked out by Mayura was quite humorous, and he just had to laugh and pulled her in to a hug, kissing the top of her head with much relief. With a slight blush, she mistook his action as a tiny reward for doing a good job.

Her voice brought him back to the other aspect of their situation, "Um, so what is going on here? And where's Fenrir?"

He looked up to the giant wolf, "That is Fenrir."

"Wow!" was all she could say, and he had to admit that he originally thought she would be running away, scared and horrified at his son's appearance, but she took it rather lightly. But he shouldn't have been surprised at all. She had accepted all of them willingly, knowing who they really were, what kind of immense powers they possessed, and not caring what problems they could impose on her.

She was definitely a rare mortal.

"Is he... eating something?"

Loki sweatdropped, "Yes."

"What is- Oh where's that crazy statue?"

He was quiet, but his silence said it all.

"Oh..."

The two watched the giant wolf swallow something, believing it was the statue he had eaten, but then Fenrir spitted something out and yawned. It hit the floor with a tiny splat sound, and Loki and Mayura hurried to see what it was, and it turned out to be a blue, glowing, shapeless spirit. The girl bent over and poked it with a finger, causing it to move and float in to her face.

"It's kinda cute," she grinned, letting the thing dance within her palms.

Loki frowned and summoned tons of flames into his hands, the fire swirled into a tall funnel within his hand, slowly crafting in to a delicate item of magical properties. Eventually the flames dispersed, leaving a tall container with a corked top in his hand. He uncapped it, snatched the spirit from Mayura, stuffed it in to the container, and closed it tightly. All of this done before his godly strength died out, and he shrunk into his powerless state of a child.

"Eh, Loki-sama! What was that for?"

"It was a _jaki_, an evil spirit," he informed her and ignored her mumblings of 'it was too cute to be evil,' already in a bad mood from being dropped unwillingly in to his child form. As if to make him feel better, his son's own powers disappeared, and the wolf figure shrunk too, but the pair did not expect to see the results of Fenrir's powerless state as being so...

"Oh my god!" Mayura shouted and covered her eyes with both hands, "Fenrir is naked!"

The wolf demi-god blinked and looked down at himself, expecting to be a cute, little puppy again, but no, Fenrir had turned in to a handsome, young man - much like his sexy father because awesome genes run in the family - without any clothes on. "Eh? What?! I'm not cute anymore!" he whined in a loud, audible human voice.

Loki stared at him, deadpanned, "I don't think that's the problem, Fenrir." He sighed and turned to the girl, who still had her eyes covered, "Mayura, do you mind getting him some clothes? From the gift shop?"

She stuttered out an affirmative reply before tripping her way out of the exhibit in search of clothing for the poor puppy-turned-human Fenrir.

* * *

Like all evenings and night time hours, Daidouji was beginning to get used to all the new faces that had appeared at the steps of his home, and now seeing Mayura and Loki had returned with yet another person, he just waved them inside and closed the door. At first he had thought it was all a dream until his daughter glomped him, attempting to explain the horrible situation with the stranger.

As the few of them who were awake - excluding Narugami who could sleep through anything (even Ragnarok) and Kazumi who didn't care - sat down, Yamino looked very nervous, able to recognize his own brother in his human form as Mayura introduced the young man to the Shinto priest, "Yamino Ichirou."

Sure _Ichirou_ might sound like the typical Japanese name, hardly creative, but if one were to pick out the _kanji_ behind the name, it would be 'one wolf' - good job, Mayura.

The man stared at the youngster in front of him - well, he wasn't that young, maybe mid-twenties - but the surname was obviously familiar, and his daughter continued, telling them that they coincidently ran in to Yamino's older brother, who had just been mugged of all his belongings, even the clothes on his back, and so that was how it all came to be that day. She added that her father was such a kind man that he would allow poor Ichirou a night's stay at their place.

Yes, of course, how could he go against the powerful will of his daughter, especially when she was so adamant on accepting strange men in to their home. And he wondered where did he go wrong in raising the child.

Ichirou, who hadn't said a word, yawned loudly, stretching his arms in to the air, showing off the t-shirt that had a large, cartoony-looking fish on it with the words, _Mysterious Water World_, underneath it. They all stared at him as he scratched his nose adorable, like he was still a puppy swatting something from his snout, and curled into a ball, his head falling comfortably on to Mayura's lap - already a habit of his to sleep there.

Yamino's eyes almost popped out of his head, watching his brother snooze away, and sweatdropped when he looked over to Daidouji's furious expression and a quiet Loki turning away, trying to not care about what was happening. Mayura put up her hands in pure defense against her father, attempting to calm him down, while trying to pull herself out from under Ichirou's head, but as she moved, his hands automatically encircled her and grabbed her bottom, hugging her back to him as his pillow.

Everyone freaking out was an understatement.

And the night was long and arduous.

* * *

**Notes:** Lol... I don't know what to say. I keep laughing every time I imagine Fenrir turning human. Poor Mayura-papa!

Here's our list of gods so far with their human identities and their powerless states, lol, which was inspired from the _Code:Breakers_ series:

1 - **Loki** is Loki, and err, Jashin Loki. He turns in to a child.

2 - **Jormungand** is Yamino Ryuusuke. He turns in to a small snake.

3 - **Thor** is Narugami Tohru. He falls asleep, and nothing can wake him up. I haven't tried food yet, lol.

4 - **Heimdall** is Higashiyama Kazumi. He becomes transparent, like a ghost, but can still do regular things, like eating, drinking, peeing...

5 - **Fenrir** is Yamino Ichirou. He turns human, a naked human - yum.

Only a few more gods to go, and the plot revolving around the _jaki_ is slowly forming! Dundunduuun! Thanks for reading and reviewing! -kuro.


	13. Chapter 13

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirteen.**

"Mayura, do you remember what happened the other day?"

Koutaro rubbed the back of his head, trying to remember if all the events at the aquarium had been a figment of his imagination, considering the pink-haired girl had been present along with an unfamiliar face, then the next thing he knew, the tanks all broke and the main exhibition room was flooded. It had to be a dream, because there was no way of explaining a crazy, moving statue.

He had woken up outside of the building with the ticket booth employee watching over him. He was informed of a sudden earthquake that had rattled the area, destroying most the aquarium interior, and the first thing out of his mouth was Mayura's safety. The man had nodded, at having seen the girl safely escorted away for a physical examination by her 'boyfriend' and 'his son' apparently. Even if she looked too young to a mother, the boy had kept calling her mother several times to the point that she ran off, screaming.

He glanced over to his classmate who was fuming madly at recalling the previous day's events. "I don't know what you mean," she grumbled, still distressed at being called 'mom' by little Loki, and it didn't help that human Fenrir at the time chased after her because he didn't know how to act human, which caused a lot of misunderstanding along the way home, like a pair of regretful husband and son attempting to appease the only woman in their lives.

She didn't look happy at all, and he had to change that, somehow, because he didn't like seeing her without her bright smiles that always cheered him up. Ever since they entered high school, he had taken notice of her, her unique appearance, but it wasn't till the beginning of the year that they were in the same class, and approaching her was much easier.

"Say, Mayura..."

She finally turned to him, her anger slowly draining from her face, "Yes?"

"Do you... mind helping me after school?" he started, "Um, my cousin is getting married in a month, and I need to get a wedding gift for her."

"Ooh~!" she clapped her hands together, a big smile finally greeted him, and he felt all nice and warm for making her smile like that. "Yes, I'll help! Summer's coming up sooh, huh." She looked thoughtful, "Oh, she'll be a lovely summer bride!"

* * *

A sudden feeling of irritation crept down his spine, and Loki, still in his child form from losing his powers from the day before, stopped sipping his tea, leaving his cup hanging in midair. He frowned and dropped the cup back to its saucer, noisily, catching the attention of Yamino and the human Fenrir, who was already uncomfortable in his strange form. The two sons shared questioning glances then looked at their father, who appeared to be stewing silently in his thoughts.

"Loki-sama," Yamino nervously called, knowing his father quite well that when that particular frown adorned his face, it was a huge sign that someone would pay dearly for any transgression against the said god, "I-Is something wrong?"

The child pursed his lips, closing his eyes, and brought his hand to the side of his face to hide a bit of his exhaustion. His son was just a worrier when it came to his well being, so he didn't want to worry the boy, "It's nothing more than impatience in this state."

Yeah, anyone would be pissed at having to remain a child when one didn't need to, which Yamino understood that it limited his abilities to do a few things, so he decided it was best to leave the subject alone.

Loki had been mirthful all morning, having sent off a really annoyed Mayura to school, just knowing that she would be thinking about him all day. At least that was what he had thought and hoped for, but the silent connection they had told him otherwise. The abrupt sensation of pure joy had jolted him in to worry, wondering what had caused the change in her mood.

Though it was nice that their bond allowed him a certain insight in to her safety, it also produced various imaginations to her fluctuations of emotions, which never seemed to bore him. He found delight through his days at guessing what she was doing at the moment or what she could possibly be thinking, but at that moment her sudden streak of happiness brought a foreboding feeling.

"Nii-san!" Yamino's voice rang out in the background, followed by the spillage of edible contents across the table, onto the floor, "That's not how you eat soup! At least as a human." The distraction was enough for Loki, with a faint smile, to quietly slip from the kitchen, leaving the brothers to bicker among themselves.

"Oi, Jormungand!" his mouth dripping wet from miso soup, and some bits of tofu clung to the side of his mouth, which only took two seconds to be swept away by his tongue right into his mouth, "Don't be so picky! As long as I get food into my tummy, what's it matter?"

"Nii-san, you're making a mess..."

"And you like to play housewife," his older brother scoffed.

* * *

"Sensei! How about this one?"

Narugami pointed to a flat, rectangular screen that looked more like a photo frame than anything he recognized. He was being all loud in the middle of the electronics store, calling for Daidouji to take a look at his discovery. His master, with a long sigh as if Narugami had been the dreadful son that would make his hair turn gray before Mayura graduated from high school, walked over to the display.

"That's a tablet," he informed the young man, "Mayura doesn't need to carry around something that big." He looked around the store, gradually falling back into his thoughts, "We should probably get a family plan."

"What for? Aren't we just getting Daidouji a phone?"

The man gave the teenager an odd look and told him, matter-of-factly, "If you boys are going to live with us a while, you should have one for emergencies too."

Taken aback by Daidouji's words, Narugami was speechless, moved by the words of the mortal before him to consider him and the other gods as a part of his own family, "Sensei..."

And then smiled energetically, pumping a fist in the air like a happy child, along with Mjollnir, "I want a cool one!"

"You're getting a cheap one like everyone else," the man sighed, slightly embarrassed from his childish display in public, which most people thought was heartwarming because they thought the two were father and son.

"Won't that be confusing?"

"You can decorate it however you like."

"Nice, I want a lightning bolt on mine."

"A light- whaa...? Nevermind."

* * *

(So nine freakin' chapters later...)

Freya must have the worse luck of all the immortals in Asgard, and at the thought of her home, it brought tears to her eyes, because she missed it so dearly. She missed being pampered and doted upon by the other gods and goddesses - oh why must she have such a difficult life? (Pfffth, difficult life as a goddess?!) She was the goddess of love and beauty, fertility and all the good stuff, of all of Asgard. Everyone adored her, worshiped her, but no, she had to listen to the other goddesses and take a stupid vacation down in Midgard, just to forget about being stood up by the terrible, trickster god Loki.

At first, everything had proceeded nicely, finding herself in the comfort of the most richest and handsomest mortal men that Midgard had to offer. She spent her passing days in luxurious hotels, meals at the most extravagant restaurants, sunbathing and swimming at private beaches, shopping at expensive, brand name stores, or cruising in the largest yachts. Such was the perfect life of a beautiful and sexy goddess, and with all these luxuries at her fingertips, she could almost move to Midgard...

Yes, almost, because after a week of awesome relaxation, she had returned from a date, after seducing a random businessman in to taking her out to dinner because she was starving. She fingered the gorgeous Brisingamen necklace around her neck, pushing her date away playfully, and blew him a sweet kiss to call it a night. He was too smitten by her beauty to even notice the door slamming in his face, and he walked away with a bloody nose, still in pure bliss that he was able to date a gorgeous woman- err, goddess.

Just as Freya entered the ultimate suite that the hotel had, something was very off when she turned on the lights, and everything went downhill from there. She gaped at the chaos in the room, ransacked of all the expensive gifts and her belongings. Her immediate thought went to the large walk-in closet, and she rushed in there to find it empty too.

Her precious cloak of feathers was missing.

Her means of travel between the worlds had disappeared.

She collapse to her knees, scared, horrified... because without a way home to Asgard, she was stranded in the mortal realm... completely BROKE.

Sure, she could charm several more mortal men in to providing for her, but that wasn't the point at all! It was degrading when she had zero assets, being forced to resort to a begging, to charity. She was a damn, beautiful goddess with lots of pride, and if anyone in Asgard were to know of her predicament, the humiliation would last her for a few centuries, if not a millennium.

And that was how she ended up on a public bench at a bus stop, still dressed in the only sexy gown she had left and her golden necklace - quite inappropriate for the daytime wear in public, not that she cared. A cloud of gloom hovered over her head, her misery evident from a week's worth of searching for her beloved cloak, from one district to the next - from Ginza to Shinjuku to Roppongi to Shibuya, etc.

She never realized how large and confusing Midgard was, if she had not been completely lost - not even knowing the name of her current whereabouts - and the more she recalled her past experience in the city, the more she felt the despair and disdain, cursing the mortal heathen that had the balls to rob a goddess.

Currently oblivious of her surroundings of several males had admired her beauty but none dared to approach her, she stood up abruptly with a clenched fist by her side, as if she had realized something crucial. Her fury was quite apparent as she stalked away from the bus stop and the crowd that had formed around her. She, determined to find her cloak, would return to Asgard and beat the crap out of Loki, because he was the cause of all her misfortune.

* * *

"Father's going to be upset, kaa-san~!"

Little Loki peered up slyly to see Mayura's red face and grinned, finding her embarrassment always a great amusement in his dull day. He held her hand as they walked down the street, next to an uncomfortable Koutaro who had wanted to spend some alone time with his classmate that afternoon. If it wasn't for his powerless state, he would've picked her up as his real self, rubbing his more intimate relationship in the mortal boy's face.

"Stop calling me that!" she pouted, preferring to be a sister than a mother to him - at least she would be a young, good-looking mother.

"But kaa-san, father proposed," he snickered, enjoying the uneasiness in Koutaro's expression and posture, "And you-"

"OH LOOK!" Koutaro pointed to a random store, "Let's try that one! Aha, it looks like a place my cousin would love!"

Loki frowned, hate being interrupted, especially when he was at the good part. He and Mayura followed his pointing finger to a woman's boutique that catered more to the fancy gothic lolita crowd, and they sweatdropped.

"Um, she..." Mayura started, "has an interesting hobby."

"Erm, yeah..."

The blonde teenager stared straight ahead, too late to retract his statement, so all they could do was march forward and enter unknown territory, even Mayura found herself curious about such a place. The atmosphere was surprisingly pleasant, and they were greeted by two ladies in the most friendliest manner ever, even if they were totally cosplaying - one as the typical gothic lolita while the other was a frilly princess.

"Welcome! Are you looking to find a suitable dress for a party?!" the gothic one inquired of the pretty Mayura.

"Um, actually," Koutaro interrupted, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, "we just want to browse for a bit."

Loki rolled his eyes and tugged Mayura to an aisle, because he actually wanted to see her in any of these outfits, and since they were there, he might as well get her in to something - something sexy? Many of the outfits had several layers of frills and/or a lot of components to put together, probably a hassle to get on but would very fun to take off, in a private bedroom setting, of course.

"How about this?" he pointed to a devilishly black and crimson dress with a corset top and a short cut of the skirt to poof straight out. Accessories of black stockings and long gloves came with the outfit, and even the back of the mannequin had a pair of feathery wings of black and red.

"Maybe for Halloween," she replied with a shrug.

Loki grinned, "You could wear this to bed."

Koutaro walked up behind them and stood, staring at the pair, having missed the conversation, but he could tell which piece was the center of attention and blushed. He was puzzled when Mayura stomped away, fuming, leaving the boy to laugh at her reaction. He stood next to Loki, asking, "What was that about?"

"Oh nothing much," he was still smiling, giving the skirt a lingering touch, "Just a suggestion on what father likes."

Koutaro, still blushing, sweatdropped.

* * *

Mayura scurried away, her face still red from a mixture of embarrassment and anger, grumbling on how gods were a bit perverse, or maybe it was just Loki. Narugami and the others had normal personalities, normal interests if she overlooked Yamino's increasing accumulation of mail order meals and random items, so she couldn't understand why Loki always bullied her so much.

Perhaps it was revenge for being stuck on earth with her.

But still, that was pretty mean of a god to do, right?

She picked through the rack of dresses absentmindedly, no interest whatsoever on browsing nor bothering to remember that she had accompanied Koutaro to find a wedding gift because Loki was pretty much the center of her world right now. She stopped flicking through the hangers and walked off like a dazed zombie wandering off a movie set.

Being alone like this, even if her two male companions were just a shout away, Mayura ended up discovering the most crucial piece of item because of pure luck or just a damn curse. Either way, she now stopped in front of a particular plain mannequin, staring at the beautiful cloak draped over the inanimate display.

Her hand reached out and glided over the soft texture of the feathers, cool and soothing beneath her touch, fingers tickled by a sort of magical gentleness, and she giggled at the thought of being a stylish superhero. It would probably look cool for a heroine, and was it much to ask for the girl to even get a chance to try the thing on.

Hell waited for no one and broke loose with bad news, in the form of one glowing mannequin, very attached to the cloak of feathers, Freya's missing cloak of feathers.

* * *

**Notes:** I was going to wait till the end of the week to finish the mini-plot and update, but this is early for **kdwml**, because you asked about Freya. I had planned to add her next too, and now you know what Freya's been doing for two weeks, since chapter three, rofl. More of Freya in the next one, with the mini-plot's conclusion.

To **EchizenRyoma**, Koutaro is a normal human. The story's moving along okay, but if you've got a question on something, let me know 'cause I might have missed writing an explanation or will cover it in the future chapters. Anyway thanks for reading & reviewing! -kuro.


	14. Chapter 14

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Fourteen.**

"Nii-san, about yesterday," Yamino, watching the news on television about an investigation by the police about the destruction at a new aquatic center, looked apprehensive. He glanced to the side, where human Fenrir was flat on his stomach, trying to sleep. He was told briefly about what had happened, something about a random evil spirit had caused the trouble.

"You said Loki-sama caught a _jaki_?"

Fenrir rolled on to his side, grumbling akin to an affirmative reply.

"But weren't the _jaki_ on Midgard collected by Tyr?"

He groaned, "Maybe he forgot a few? Being demoted to trash collector wasn't the greatest of times for him."

"It's possible... but what are the odds of Loki-sama and Mayura-san running in to one in Tokyo of all places?"

"Because Tokyo's so boring? Now let me sleep, Jormungand!"

"Y-Yes, nii-san..."

* * *

Meanwhile, back to the boringness that was in Tokyo, not really when there was a mannequin that suddenly flared to life and started to attack its first target, Mayura! A whirlwind of feathers blasted towards the girl, stunned at what was happening - really, she should be used to this by now - but she was suddenly tackled to the floor by a small Loki, both falling away just in time to barely miss the storm of feathers soaring by their heads and straight out the front window of the store.

Koutaro appeared, freaking out at the sight of the moving mannequin, feathery cloak billowing after it dramatically, "Oh my god, this can't be happening!" He must be cursed or something for this to happen to him a second time, when he originally thought he was just hallucinating from bad indigestion or something.

This whole thing was all bad timing, especially when Loki was powerless to stop the monster, so all he could do was pull Mayura from the ground and run. They ran by a blubbering Koutaro and dragged him along too, with the mannequin creature right behind them.

* * *

Standing in line to pay for the purchases, Narugami jerked his head towards the exit, having sense the unnatural phenomenon near by. It was a familiar sensation, being very troublesome, but at the same time, there was something odd and different about the certain energy. Though being a god of justice and goodness, he couldn't overlook this problem.

He shoved the boxes in his arm to a surprised Daidouji, telling him, "Sensei, I forgot to get something! I'll see you back at home!"

The man, not able to utter a word, could only watch his student dash out from the store like his _hakama_ were on fire.

* * *

As if all gods had this type of troublesome sixth or seventh sense, Freya looked about, trying to figure out the strange spike of negative energy in the area, wondering if it would lead her to her beloved cloak of feathers. There were also several different god-like energies nearby too, and she thought it was strange, because she didn't know any other gods had descended from Asgard.

Maybe it was someone who missed her and was coming to rescue her!

Elated, she started to run in the direction of the energy, where all the others seemed to be gathering there anyway. It didn't long for her to run in to one of them either, their collision forced both to the pavement, but it was Freya who was first to recover, shouting vehemently about the ignorance of mortals to damage a beautiful goddess such as her.

"Huh, Freya?" came a familiar voice, "What are you doing here?"

The blonde goddess looked up with large eyes in surprise, "Thor?"

She accepted his kind hand extended to her, and he hauled her up to her feet as he spoke, "This is quite a surprise. I never thought I'd see you down here, on Midgard."

She laughed behind her hand, "Ohoho, I was just visiting, to see what was so great about this place."

"Oh okay, well I best be off!"

She grabbed his arm, "What about you? Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"There's some trouble up ahead. I bet you felt it too?"

* * *

"Why is it chasing us?!"

Koutaro shouted to the two running in front of him, while people around them watched as two teenagers with a boy charged down the sidewalk with someone in a weird costume chasing them, believing it to be a part of a movie being filmed. If only he could be as ignorant of the situation as these other people, then he probably wouldn't be in the middle of danger, fleeing for his life.

"Yes, Loki-sama... why is it... chasing us?!"

Mayura's out of breathness was evident, and more so in Loki, since he was a child, when he tried to answer her, "I can't... do... anything... in this form!" He cursed those stupid _jaki_, always making many lives miserable, but why his own right now?

The last time he had ever bothered with the evil spirits - aside from the time at the aquatic center - was a few centuries ago, after secretly letting a few loose in Midgard for some fun, but then Odin had sent Tyr down to deal with them. Even so, they were normally harmless, mischievous oddities in the mortal world, unless provoked, but with one glance to Mayura, who he found hardly to be a threat, she was most likely the cause for the jaki's madness.

He still couldn't understand how this oblivious, cute ditz could manage to get them into trouble just from shopping, but right now, he had to either lure the jaki into a less dense populated area and find help or hide till he could get back his powers, which was going to be at least another two hours. Yeah, that second plan didn't sound too great, especially when he had a certain, unnecessary baggage that wasn't Mayura.

He stopped at an intersection and yelled to the older boy, "Kakinouchi! We need to split up!"

"What? No way, I can't leave Mayu-"

Loki rolled his eyes, "If you want to protect her, then be a good bait and lure it away."

The girl blinked, "Eh, but Loki-"

"Fine!" Koutaro growled, and after sparing his classmate one reassuring smile, he waved, "See you in a bit, Mayura."

And off he went, down one direction, and Loki, still holding Mayura's hand, tugged her across the street in the other, but unfortunately, the mannequin followed the two instead. It had been the god's intention all along, having known that Mayura was its target.

"Damn, where's Narugami when you need him!" he groaned, tired of running.

"Right there!" Mayura shouted, pointing in front of them.

Lo and behold, there he was, running towards them, but the familiar face beside him was the last person he wanted to see on Midgard, much less any other place. The change in Freya's expression from murderous anger, at recognizing him in the child form, to pure bliss as she scooped Loki up in to her arms, "Loki! How I've missed you!"

Right, who really cared that Loki was the cause of all her problems - even as a cute child, just one look at him, and Freya could only see his godliness sparkling within her vision. All her loathing and hate were mere words, because she worshipped him with all her being. And how could she seriously be upset at such a handsome, adorable person such as Loki!

"Freya! Let go!" he pushed himself from her, very annoyed because there was a crazy mannequin after them, "Put me down!"

"No~! You promised a date!" she whined, "Let's go on a date now!"

"I never did!" he huffed, blocking Freya's lips from kissing him.

"Loki-sama, who is this?"

He heard Mayura's strangely soft-spoken voice and looked at her, now standing next to a grinning Narugami, and she seemed so lost and maybe sad. He mentally cursed the god of thunder for not helping, opening his mouth to explain, but Freya had beat him to it, sizing the mortal girl in their presence, "My name is Freya. I'm the goddess of love and beauty... and Loki's only love~!"

He winced when he saw a flicker of indescribable emotions in Mayura's eyes. He hated that pained look, and for some reason, he just wanted desperately to wipe it away and tell her everything was going to be all right because he would make it all better for her. But Freya's presence and actions did not help at all, giving him another overbearing hug.

He glared at her, hard, "Freya, put me down. NOW."

From the tone of his voice and the fiery eyes, she obeyed unwillingly with a pout, "But Loki!"

Back on the ground, he fixed the white bow around his neck and smoothed out his coat, because there were more pressing matters than emotions and drama. He pointed behind them, to the mannequin that finally appeared because it had stupidly gotten lost on the way, "We have to deal with that right now!"

Narugami turned around, "Ah! The evil that Mjollnir and I must smite!"

Freya gasped, "My cloak! You have my cloak!"

The mannequin attacked with a bunch of feathers, using the powers of the cloak again, but Freya summoned a large frying pan and batted away the attack, "I want it back!" She snapped her fingers and a lot more pots and pans fell on the apparent enemy, "Give it back now, or you'll get more of that!"

Mayura and Narugami, readying Mjollnir for a fight, sweatdropped, and a deadpanned Loki told them, "Let's leave this to her then."

They continued to watch as Freya beat up the mannequin with a few more culinary tools and appliances, which begged the question from Mayura, "Um, are you sure she's not also the goddess of kitchen ware?" Right after that, a hammer, a chainsaw and finally an anvil squished the poor thing, and that made the mortal sweatdrop, "Erm, and hardware...?"

She grabbed the chainsaw and turned it on, looking very menacing, as she stood over the fallen mannequin that began to sweat heavily at the realization of its doom. Freya's left eye began twitching as she brought the chainsaw down on it, cackling madly.

Mayura's hands flew over to Loki's eyes to prevent him from seeing, forgetting that he wasn't really a child, followed by Narugami, who cringed from the sight, covering Mayura's eyes, but no one could cover his, so he looked elsewhere. He noticed the few crowds of people around them were watching, and slapped his forehead at the audience, who still believed they were watching a movie in the making.

"Ah! My cloak!" Freya happily hugged her cloak of feathers and threw it over her shoulders, leaving the disembodied mannequin parts scattered on the pavement, "Now I can return home." She turned to Loki with a big smile, "Loki! Let's go home!"

"I can't," he waved her off as he, with Mayura, walked over to the leftover parts and picked up the head. He examined it as the girl poked the forehead and yelped in surprise that it responded with a twitch, "Ah, the jaki's in this one."

"What?! Why not?" the blonde goddess whine, "Why would you want to stay in this terrible place! Did you know I was robbed! These mortals are so disgusting! Stooping so low as thievery!" She flipped her hair and put a hand on her waist, glaring at the pink-haired girl next to Loki.

"Erm, guys, can we like clear out?" Narugami chuckled nervously, and everyone looked at him, then to the mass of people around them, overly excited that such beautiful people were among them, filming a movie, though they attempted to find the camera man and the rest of the crew. Even if it wasn't a movie set, they could try to get a date with the pretty people or stalk them.

Yes, this was definitely scarier than the mannequin attacking them.

* * *

By the time Mayura and her gang of immortals returned to the Daidouji home, her father was already there with Yamino and a normal Fenrir, who were happy that everyone was back safely, but upon seeing the new face, the brothers fell in to a sort of coma silence. It wasn't that they didn't want to see another god or goddess, but this particular one was the last one they would prefer ever seeing, because they knew she was a bit obsessed with their father - that being an understatement.

"Um, and who is this lovely lady?" Daidouji blushed embarrassingly, "Your sister, Loki?"

The boy, along with the others excluding Freya, tried not to laugh, but it was possible considering they were both were good-looking people. The woman felt offended and took Loki into her arms, cuddling him, "Loki is my-"

Mayura interrupted her, "COUSIN!" Freya glared at her, as the girl continued, "Her name is Freya, and she has no place to stay, so we brought her back here!"

Daidouji looked at his daughter, puzzled, thinking how many of Loki's relatives were coming over here unexpectedly without a place to stay, though he didn't mind that this was a female this time. Even so, all the available rooms were taken, and it would be rude to have a guest stay in Mayura's room, but then he recalled the storage room in the shrine. He asked Narugami to help him clear it out for Freya to stay in.

While the master and student were busy with that, the rest went in to the house, and Yamino went to pour them some refreshing tea after a crazy afternoon. Mayura began to tell the brothers about their afternoon adventure as Loki, half listened, sipped his tea and then summoned his jaki container, since his powers returned, and stuffed the newly acquired spirit in to it.

"Mayura-san," Yamino smiled nervously, not sure how this mortal girl got herself into these messes, "I'm glad you and Loki-sama are all right."

"AH! I forgot about Koutaro-kun!" Mayura slammed her hands on to the table surface at the realization of her forgotten classmate.

Loki glanced over to her, trying to appear disinterested, "What about him? He was fine when he last left us."

She furrowed her brows at him, "But Loki-sama, you were the one to suggest splitting up."

"Oh?" he drank his tea again, looking thoughtful.

"Yes, you did!" she pointed at him.

"Because," he grinned, taking her hand within his, and pressed his lips to the back of her heand, "he can't handle you."

"Whaa?"

"LOKI!" Freya managed to get out through her clenched teeth, as she glared at the little scene playing out before her. The two, sweatdropped, slowly turned their attention to the furious, forgotten goddess - because they really did forget she was there. "What is going on here?!" she demanded from the two, and pointing at Mayura, she yelled, "Is this why you won't return to Asgard with me?!"

Before Loki could answer, Mayura had already spoken, "Yes. It's my fault Loki-sama is here."

Freya, half raised out of her seat, gasped, "How dare you! You filthy mortal!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Loki ordered, his voice low and angry, rumbling through the silence in the room. His beautiful emerald eyes had turned a fiery red, narrowing at the goddess.

(Bad sign, bad sign!)

* * *

Needing a lot of time to himself, Kazumi had taken a stroll through the neighborhood while he tried to plot his vengeance against Loki, without anyone finding it was him since he was living under the same roof as him. He was lost in thought on a lovely evening, passing by a familiar boutique where two cosplaying sales ladies were cleaning up their destroyed store front.

Down a few more blocks, he would eventually stop because something had caught his eye. He turned his head to the window, as slow as slow motion would allow, and zooming up on the very familiar and distinct item laid out across a velvet cloth, he leaned forward to the glass pane and squinted to make sure he wasn't imagining things, but it was definitely the item.

Kazumi, rubbing his chin in thought, was staring down at the Brisingamen necklace... in the window... of, what he knew to be, a pawn shop?

* * *

**Notes:** Eh, not too happy with how this chapter came about. I might revise it later, who knows. I originally had Freya use all her powers in the fight, which would force her in to her powerless state, but it would be too much for one chapter, so it'll happen later, lol. I'm getting giddy just thinking about her powerless state 'cause it's hilarious. *grins*

I think the story has just gotten a bit serious, lol... Freya's already getting on Loki's bad side! The chapter got a bit long, but I wanted to add the last scene with Kazumi and the Brisingamen necklace 'cause Freya was desperate and had to pawn it off, rofl...

Next time, it's Freyr! Thanks~! -kuro.


	15. Chapter 15

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Fifteen.**

If one had passed by the common room, one would think there was a showdown that was about to commence between all the persons involved, mainly between the child and the woman, while the rest were just staring at one and then the next. There was a pained expression etched on Freya's lovely face at the harshness of his voice, even Mayura could sympathize, and it was the touch from the mortal girl, her hand gentle on his arm, that made Loki realize he had almost lost control of himself because of his emotions.

He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing the side of his face, feeling so exhausted from the bit of drama, and when he finally gathered his thoughts together, he opened his eyes, staring at the blonde goddess in an almost indifferent manner, "It's best if you return to Asgard, Freya."

"But Loki-"

She wanted to object so much, that he would prefer a mortal at his side rather than a wonderful goddess like her, but she could tell he was at his limit, the strain in his voice to keep his emotions in control, as he spoke, "There are too many gods here already, and we can't impose upon the Daidoujis any further."

His words seemed to be final as he stood up, "I'm going to my room."

He made his exit with a worried Fenrir in tow, and Yamino stood up too, announcing that he would start on dinner immediately. After giving the woman a quick worried glance, Mayura volunteered to help him, which he was grateful for, because they needed to leave Freya alone, to her own thoughts and humiliation.

* * *

Narugami was removing the last few boxes from the storage room in to the study, where all the books and scrolls belonging to the shrine were archived. They had made a pile of boxes in one of the corners, and soon, it became a tight fit in the space, leaving enough room for one person to move down the aisle, not that the room was used much by anyone. It was more of a place to keep the shrine records, its history and its patrons over the years.

The young man watched his master straighten the area a bit and asked him, "Sensei, you're pretty calm about all of this."

"Hm, what do you mean?" he continued to busy himself with the task at hand.

"Well you know, all of us staying here. Most people would go nuts by now."

Daidouji laughed, "You guys are good kids."

Narugami couldn't help but smile at his words, never imagining that he would build such a nice relationship with mortals, and it felt nice that, despite being kicked out of his home world by his own father, he found a home on Midgard.

"Thanks, sensei."

His master paused and looked at the youngster, "Besides, I trust Mayura. If she believes in all of you, then I do too."

"Yeah, she's something," Narugami appeared thoughtful, but the smile on the boy's face made Daidouji suspicious.

"Oi, you're not allow to date her!"

"Eh! No way, sensei!" he waved his hands and shook his head fervently, "I don't like her like that! Not like Loki anyway!"

"What? What do you mean 'not like Loki'?!" The man's eyes narrowed, carefully scrutinizing his apprentice's reaction. He didn't like to be kept in the dark, especially if this concerned Mayura under his roof, and it appeared that there was a secret being hidden from him.

If his master wasn't going to kill him yet, then Loki would eventually, for revealing unnecessary information that the god, himself, had yet to process and acknowledge of his affections for the mortal girl. Yes, either way, Narugami was totally screwed, but still, he had to think of something fast. He was willing to admit that thinking was not his forte, "Ah, oh... you know, sensei... she's like uh, the mother he never had..."

All anger and suspicions faded away, leaving pure surprise, "What?"

Great, now Narugami was stuck in a half lie - keep digging his own grave, and eventually Loki would add a bomb to it and watch him explode to thousand pieces, scattered across the nine worlds.

* * *

"Hmm..."

Mayura looked about the kitchen as Yamino had grabbed all the needed ingredients for the evening's dinner and organized everything them on the counter like the overly compulsive person that he was. The girl watched curiously, wondering what he was planning to make, because those steaks looked delicious, as she pulled her long hair into a ponytail to be less of a hindrance.

"What can I help with, Yamino-san?" she inquired, slipping on the extra apron, and stood next to him.

"Um, you really don't need to help, Mayura-san."

"No no! I want to! For all the times you've cooked for us!" she smiled, believing that if she kept herself busy with dinner preparation, she wouldn't think so much about Loki and his relationship with Freya, which had been bothering her all evening. "Besides it's so much fun cooking together!" she sounded cheerful enough that Yamino wouldn't know that anything was bothering the girl.

He returned the same warm smile, appreciative at her kindness and sincerity because no one had treated him like he existed, besides his father and sometimes his brother who enjoyed bullying him instead. He looked around and picked up the carrots, "All right, you can start cleaning and cutting these. We'll be having steak tonight! They were delivered fresh this morning! I was able to get them at a great price, and I couldn't believe my luck, getting to be the forty-ninth caller! Only the first fifty callers were able to get the discount."

He was getting so excited, that all his heated talking fogged up his glasses, and he accidently cut himself during his slicing of the onions. Mayura grabbed his hand and put the bleeding finger under the running faucet, then proceeded to properly care for the wound with the first aid kit.

He patiently sat at the table while Mayura concentrated deeply - the little pink tongue stuck out between her lips and furrowed eyebrows - on disinfecting his injury and putting the bandaid perfectly around his finger. "There we go!" she smiled proudly at the pink bandaid of yellow stars and moons, which earned a huge sweatdrop from Yamino, "Let me do the cutting, and you can do the rest!"

He blushed, "Thank you, Mayura-san."

* * *

Loki, sitting at the desk by the window, was lost in his thoughts. He needed time alone to think about what had just happened, letting his anger get the best of him was not like him at all, but when Freya had insulted Mayura, he just couldn't take it anymore and practically snapped. What surprised him even more was the fact that the girl, herself, was able to calm him down, so easily, with just a touch of her hand.

He didn't understand why it had bothered him so much, but shouldn't he be upset that he was forced to remain on Midgard? Honestly, he hadn't thought about his predicament in weeks, having adjusted rather smoothly to his new life, as strange as it would seem to any of the other gods. Even now, for a god to be away from Asgard for so long, he didn't even feel the slightest bit of homesickness.

He leaned his head against the back of the chair, while his hand ran down Fenrir's back - the puppy having been in his lap the whole time - in a soothing manner that helped ease the god's mental state.

Loki let out a long, exhausting sigh and stared at the ceiling.

Fenrir had been quiet the whole time because he knew his father needed to think things through, but it was beginning to worry him greatly that a great god like him had fallen in to depression, 'Daddy?'

"What's... happening to me, Fenrir?"

* * *

Mayura had just finished cutting the onions when Freya's voice boomed through the kitchen, "We need to talk!"

The goddess, appeared in the entrance way, was staring right at the girl, ignoring the presence of a nervous Yamino who prayed that a conflict did not break out, and he absentmindedly scooted over to Mayura, having grown accustomed to be a sort of bodyguard for her when his father wasn't there.

The girl blinked and answered, "Okay."

"Woman to woman."

Mayura nodded, "We can go to outside." She made her way to the back door, which lead straight out to the backyard, before Yamino could advise against it, being alone with a jealous goddess was not a good idea. She held the door open for Freya to go through first and gave Yamino a dazzling smile of reassurance before following after the goddess.

He trusted Mayura, but he didn't trust Mayura's safety with Freya, so he hurried to get his father.

* * *

Freya immediately demanded to know why Loki was living in Midgard with mortals, and Mayura explained how it was her fault that he was dragged from his home to be by her side. It explained a lot of things, but she couldn't accept that Loki wasn't even pissed over the problem the mortal had brought upon him. As she thought more about Loki's behavior and reaction to the girl, she realized that he was even enjoying himself.

She wanted to lash out at her, berate her for such a selfish wish, so typical of all mortals. She was glaring at the girl so hard that Mayura couldn't even meet her eyes, the obvious guilt and shame evident in them. A part of Freya eased a bit, knowing that the mortal felt responsible for humiliating a god.

"I know it was selfish of me..."

Freya heard the softness of the girl's voice and turned to her, their eyes meeting once more, as she spoke, her voice gaining firmness with each word, "And I would take the wish back if it would make Loki-sama happy!"

"How unlike you," the two women turned to the speaker, Loki, who stepped out from the shadows of the house, and stood in front of them, waving a scolding finger to the pink-haired girl, with a grin, "to be presumptuous, Mayura."

She pouted, puffing her cheeks at the haughty boy, "I am not!" She looked away, with her face in a pink tint, a mixture of embarrassment and irritation, "I just didn't want Freya-sama to get the wrong idea."

His grin seemed to stretch wider, as he walked over to her, gazing up at her with the air of superiority, completely ignoring the blonde goddess just a few feet away from them, "And what idea is that?"

"That... this isn't Loki-sama's fault!"

"Of course it isn't," he scoffed, a hand on his waist, and he knew his reply would annoy her further, and for a few seconds, he let her face drop a bit, believing that he had also blamed her. It had been a fact that, all this time, Mayura had blamed herself for the silly, innocent wish she made, but he never held it against, because it was just how the system worked, or at least what he kept telling himself.

He waved it away casually, "I never said it was your fault, did I?"

"No, you didn't, but-"

"So just drop it," he ordered and then faced Freya, "I don't dwell on the past, which is where this topic will remain."

"Loki..."

"I appreciate your concern for me, but it's unnecessary," he was speaking with such a polite, business-like manner that made Freya feel like she had become more distant to him than ever before, "And I would like you to leave Mayura alone."

"Loki-sama! We were just talking!" the girl pouted and stomped her foot down, "And stop treating me like a child!"

He glanced at her slyly, "Oh? I'm not the one calling 'papa' around here."

She crossed her arms over her chest and flipped her head away from him, "That was low, Loki-sama!"

He chuckled at her expectant reaction, but the rustling sounds brought their undivided attention back to Freya, who had turned her back to them, wearing her cloak of feathers. She hated seeing the two so happily bickering with each other, reminding her of a close relationship that she would never have with Loki, at least not right now.

"I haven't given up!" she threw the words over her shoulder, directing them to Mayura, "But I'm going home for now. I need a long, hot bath! To get this stench of Midgard off me!"

"Have a safe trip," Loki waved.

Freya flinched, hurt that he wouldn't miss her at all, but she just had to focus on getting home. She summoned her powers and began to glow. A bright, golden light shined and engulfed her within in, and Mayura and Loki had to shield their eyes. When the light started to fade away again, they both look at the spot where Freya had stood and fell over, because the goddess was still standing there, completely befuddled that she was still in Midgard.

"What the hell?! I'm still here?"

"Is it broken?" Mayura pondered.

"N-No! Of course not!" she shouted, mildly offended.

"Strange," Loki rubbed his chin, thinking, "We should give Urd a call."

And so the three returned to the house, and Freya made a long distance call to Asgard, reaching the office of one goddess of the past. When she heard Urd's voice, she demanded to know why she couldn't return to the realm of the gods. Loki and Mayura watched intently at the sudden rage that marred her beautiful features, matching her ridiculously high-pitched tone blaring in to the receiver, "What do you mean the gateway to and from Asgard has been temporarily closed?!"

The mortal and the god shared a look of bewilderment.

"I'M STUCK HERE?!"

The pair sweatdropped and sighed.

* * *

Elsewhere in the city, in a more quiet and Freya-less environment, Kazumi was enjoying his dinner of burger and fries at a generic fast food eatery. He sat by the window, munching on some fries, as he watched the television. The news was on, reporting about some strange event from a few hours earlier that day, something about a weird chase through the neighborhood by a group of beautiful people. It showed a clip of Mayura and company running down the street, being pursued by what appeared to be a mannequin.

Kazumi sweatdropped, as the reporter questioned whether this was a part of a movie filming or just some hoax by a group of bored teenagers.

He shook his head at the hilarious reality of one mortal and a group of gods, though he did pondered the appearance of one goddess, wondering why she had come to Midgard, not that it was a problem for him. "Just as long as the idiot twin of hers isn't here," he mumbled and took a sip of his soda.

He suddenly heard something slam in to the window next to him, and slowly, he turned his head in that direction, a terrible feeling found its way in to his stomach.

A short pause.

And soda shot out of his nose, at the sight of the one person he didn't want to see, the face pressed against the glass pane like he was a starving zombie.

"Dammit, Freyr..."

* * *

**Notes:** I honestly didn't know what to write for this chapter besides wanting Freya to try to return home but ends up not being able to, and the scene with Kazumi and Freyr... It got rather serious, huh? I hope I lightened up the mood a bit while these kids figure out their feelings!

And welcome, Freyr! Now to figure out what to do with him, lol... Thanks! -kuro.


	16. Chapter 16

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Sixteen.**

People weren't sure if they should be staring in awe or in disgust at how fast the handsome, young man was inhaling the burgers and fries, while his young companion wished he was no where in the vicinity. But of course fate was rather fickle for Kazumi as he sat there, trying to bury his head into his hands to avoid the many eyes on them. He silently cursed Loki for all his misfortunes - something he had in common with Freya, it seemed - and wondered if he should kill Freyr now while they weren't in Asgard, though Odin might miss one of the apparently important gods.

"Freyr thanks Heimdall for saving Freyr's life!" the god managed to say after downing five burgers. He sat back and rubbed the hump of his stomach happily, having had his fill of delicious, earthly morsels, and by now, the people tried to ignore the strange man. Even though he had stopped stuffing his face with food, his whole extravagant attire was something else, as if he had just stepped out of a theatrical performance, a role of a prince or some idiotic royal, or some cosplay party.

Kazumi rolled his eyes, "And what are you doing down here? Weren't you busy finding a wife?"

Eyes wide, emotions heightened, the third-person-speaking god slammed his hands on the table surface, startling the surrounding customers once more, "Freyr's beloved sister, Freya, has disappeared!"

"So you came down to Midgard to find her?" The smaller god sighed, knowing the idiot would go to the ends of the nine worlds to find his twin sibling, though they did not look alike at all nor were their personalities in sync and compatible, which was rather odd in itself.

"How do you intend on finding her? Midgard isn't as simple as it was thousands of years ago," he was somewhat curious about Freyr's plans on the problem and even a bit cruel to withhold information that he had discovered earlier about the goddess.

"Freyr doesn't know! But Freyr will walk all over Midgard, swim the endless oceans, hike across lofty mountains... through snow and rain, and search through every house, every store, every ditch to find Freyr's beloved sister!"

By this time, many customers had heard his very touching speech, deeply moved by his devotion to his sister that they were crying and clapping at his performance, as he stood on his chair, one leg propped up on the table, with a fist raised into the air, a pose of promised triumph to an apparently difficult task, with billowing, long cape for added drama (where the breeze was simulated by three fast food employees fanning with trays).

Kazumi, looking bored with his head propped in his palm, leaning on the table, slapped his free hand against Freyr's foot on the table to knock his balance off, and the god comically went tumbling to the floor, "Stop embarrassing me, and maybe I'll take you to her."

* * *

It was quite an eventful dinner, with high tension among the silent participants, where only the two chattering persons were an inquisitive Daidouji and a very attention-hogger Freya, who ate her food with the grace of a swan. Fortunately Loki was able to give a rough explanation of the gods' situation on Midgard, specifically in the Daidouji home, that only Mayura knew of the gods' true identity and existence and it was to be kept that way.

Somewhat insulted that Freya had to keep her glorious identity a secret, she would only comply if Loki promised to take her on a date, which he dreadfully nodded to, much to the dismay of his sons and even an irritated Mayura. And so that was why the mortal girl sat all moody and silent during the rest of the evening, which surprised her father and worried everyone else, including Loki who finally noticed the sullen vibe darting in his direction. Every time their eyes met, she would be the first to look away, finding the carrots on her plate more favorable than him, and it bothered him that she wasn't saying a word to him.

By the end of dinner, Mayura was the first to leave the table, followed by Yamino to help clear the dishes. She had already begun washing the plates quietly, and he couldn't help but sweatdrop at the brooding silence. "Ano, Mayura-san," he smiled nervously.

She continued to scrub the plate but turned to him with a stiff smile, "Yes, Yamino-san?"

Before he could say another word, there was a sound of a crack, and when they both looked down, in to the sink, the plate in her hands had broken in half. "Um maybe I should do the dishes," he carefully took the broken pieces from her hands. "Why don't you um, get some rest...?"

She looked at the doorway connecting the kitchen to the next room and then turned away, sulking, not feeling like showing herself with the others. She pouted and marched to the refrigerator and opened the freezer door. She browsed through the contents, trying to search for something, but she couldn't find what she wanted, mumbling, "Hmm, I thought we had some ice cream."

She closed the door, calling out in a sad almost whiny tone, "Yamino-san, what happened to all the ice cream?"

"Eh? There was an unopened one the other day."

They fell into silence when Freya's voice from the other room praised the delicious ice cream that she was eating, and it was such a shame that someone just hid it away in the freezer. She insisted that Loki have some with her, but it sounded like the boy didn't want any either, attempting to politely decline.

Yamino sweatdropped at the obvious loud conversation, watching Mayura suddenly boil red, wondering how he could calm her down, but it was Fenrir's awesome timing into the kitchen that distracted her. Though the puppy was fuming just as badly as her, 'Oi, Jormungand! I want ice cream! Stupid Freya wouldn't share any with me!'

"We're all out of it, nii-san."

'Then go get me some!' he literally barked out the order, like he was king of the house.

Mayura's face brightened as she stooped down and picked up Fenrir into her arms, "Ah, why don't we both go, Fenrir! We'll get lots of ice cream, and eat them all this weekend!"

'Yeah! That's what I'm talking about, Witch Girl!'

Mayura shrugged at the new name, better than that really long one, but some day she would get him to say her name.

The puppy cheered, tongue already out, drooling from the thought of the sweet dessert binge. He happily remained in her arms as she exited the kitchen and walked straight to the hallway, having ignored Loki's curious looks and Freya's intense glares. Her father and Narugami had already left, needing to finish some things at the shrine, so the less people to question her mood, the better.

She slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse, but Loki's voice had stopped her, "Where are you going? At this hour."

"Going to the convenience store," she answered flatly, without looking at him.

'Daddy, we're getting ice cream!' Fenrir explained, 'Come with us, daddy!'

"Oh Fenrir, I'm sure Loki-sama is much too busy," Mayura chided, "entertaining our guest."

He frowned at her, not liking that she was assuming too much and her behavior has been different ever since the news of Freya being stranded and staying with them had been announced. She had become strangely distant and emotionally volatile, as were most women who had conflicting feelings in their hearts. He knew she would get jealous with Freya around, but he didn't expect her to also avoid him, which was going to be a problem because he didn't like the lack of attention, mainly from Mayura.

Loki walked up to her and gave her bottom a gentle smack, "Don't be so cheeky."

"Loki-sama!" she cried indignantly, and he could only smirk in response.

"Loki~!" came Freya's voice, followed by her whole being bouncing into the hallway, holding onto her tub of almost gone ice cream that Mayura and Fenrir started to glare at it. "Where are you going, Loki?! Are you leaving me here?! ALONE?!"

"I'm going for a walk with Mayura and Fenrir," he sighed, and Freya had dropped the ice cream tub and clung to his arm, kneeling on the floor, and glared icy daggers at the mortal girl.

"I forbid it!" she declared.

"Freya," he tried to remain calm, "are you telling me what to do?"

"N-No," she flushed embarrassingly, not intending to force another god to her demands, especially one of Loki's status, and he was Loki after all, "Then let me come too!"

He sighed, wanting to smack a palm to his forehead in exasperation at Freya's clinginess, and he definitely didn't need her coming along to antagonize Mayura further. He just wanted some peaceful, non-Freya moments - was that so hard to ask? Yes, for Loki, it was a very difficult and almost impossible request to fulfill, because the universe was out to get him - a sort of ultimate karmic retribution so to speak for all the pranks and mischief he pulled.

"It's fine!" Mayura huffed out, heading to the door, "You two can stay here. Fenrir and I will be-"

Loki had caught her wrist before she could completely abandon him to Freya, who still had a hold of his arm. He gave Mayura that same, warning look when she had left him with Kazumi, and even that did not end well, but she wasn't going to give in to his demands, so she pretty much pulled herself to the door, tugging Loki along who also ended up dragging Freya across the wooden floor.

Fenrir hopped out of the girl's arms so she could reach the door knob, but the house suddenly shook, and those standing lost balance and fell over. Mayura landed first on her bottom, followed by Loki into her lap, after he got out of Freya's loosened grip. The goddess looked at the pair, eyes wide and appalled at the inappropriate scene of her beloved Loki caught in between the teenager's legs, and was about to dart to his aid when the coat rack tipped and fell...

'Daddy! Witch Girl!' Fenrir hurried to their side.

"Loki-sama! Mayura-san! Are you all right?" Yamino ran out from the kitchen to check on them, after the sudden quake of the earth.

'Jormungand!' his brother barked, very offended, 'You didn't ask about me!'

"Ah, sorry, nii-san," he sweatdropped.

"I'm fine," Loki told his sons, standing up, and helped the girl to her feet, "What about you, Mayura?" He examined her for injuries in the process, and everyone appeared to be fine... except for Freya, who had been knocked out cold by the coat rack, because she had dared to break the relationship between Loki and Mayura that had been created by a contracted wish, and the system was not going to have anyone interfere.

"This is a good time for us to leave," Loki stated. "Yamino..."

Understanding what his father wanted, he nodded, "Don't worry, Loki-sama, I'll take care of Freya-san."

"Thank you. And we're off!" He smiled gratefully and grabbed Mayura's arm and pretty much ran out the door with her, before anything else could interrupt them, even the girl's protests and sudden worries over the goddess was ignored. Fenrir bounded after them too, thrilled with an adventure and getting to eat a lot of ice cream in the process.

* * *

"Heimdall! Let's go in here!"

The vein throbbing on Kazumi's forehead was threatening to pop any second now, but apparently his health was not a priority for Freyr, who had been demanding to stop at every single storefront since they left the fast food joint. Now he was regretting his offer to take him to his sister, whom he assumed had been brought back to the Daidouji home by Loki since every god he knew on Midgard currently resided there.

"Heimdall!"

The boy whipped his head back to the shopaholic god and glared, very hard, but it did not phase him at all, if only the idiot was even paying attention. He had been busy staring at the watermelon display in window of the supermarket, advertising a 'buy one, get one at half price' deal - seriously, the watermelon was more interesting?

"I'm not buying any more of that crap!"

Freyr turned to look at his friend with big, sad puppy-dog eyes, "But Heimdall..."

Kazumi closed his eyes and debated on whether vocalizing his acknowledgement or completely ignore the buffoon, but of course, common sense was shot out of his brain when said brain and motor skills didn't coincide, "What?"

"It's such a good deal!"

He snapped.

"DON'T YOU WANT TO FIND FREYA?!"

"Of course, Freyr does!"

"Then we have to hurry. She was taken by Loki-"

"Lo... ki...?!"

All the shopping bags he had somehow conned Heimdall into buying dropped to the ground, and Freyr stood still, very still, like a frozen caveman that had been discovered after centuries being stuck in the depths of the ice bound land of the Arctic. Kazumi was mildly surprised, having expected more of a reaction out of the sister-obsessive god, and after being blessed with this opportunity of sicing said gullible idiot on Loki as part of a impromptu revenge plan, he took it.

He walked over to the god in shock and poked his side, "Freyr?"

As if it was enough to snap him out of his stupor, he went on a ranting spree, "Oh my god! That Loki! That devil! How dare he steal my sister! Oh the horror! My dear Freya! Being forced to do the unspeakable! No, no! Freyr will not let it happen! Freyr will rescue his beloved sister!"

Despite Freyr drawing a crowd of curious bystanders, this would have to do. Kazumi would make use of Freyr and his weakness, turning him against Loki - though Freyr and the many other immortals never did like the flirtatious god, whose popularity was as great as Odin's reign of Asgard.

* * *

So instead of actually going to the neighborhood convenience store, Mayura and Loki, still in his child form, with Fenrir decided to stop by an ice cream vendor, who was just about to close up for the day, just outside the park. They made the quick purchase and even got a discount for Loki and Fenrir being the most adorable kid and smartest, cutest puppy around, respectively of course.

Mayura, with her strawberry flavor treat near her mouth, mumbled, "If only you knew the truth, sir..."

Loki's ear twitched, and he glanced at her with raised brows, "What was that, Mayu-chan?"

"Ah, no-nothing!" she laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head, and proceeded to the nearest bench to eat her ice cream.

Loki followed her and sat down, setting the big bowl of four scoops of ice cream on the bench for Fenrir, as the puppy hopped to the spot in between the pair. The three enjoyed their treat and the peaceful atmosphere, but Loki could do with a bit more talking, finding Mayura's silence an oddity. She leaned back against the bench, staring up at the evening curtain of the velvet skies littered with bright stars peeking into the world.

"Ne Loki-sama..."

Her voice sounded so soft, almost lost to the air around them.

"Hm?"

"What does the world look like, from up there?"

Loki stared at her, stopped in the middle of licking the ice cream because of her random, curious question. Of all the things that had happened, that was what she wanted to ask him, in that particular moment. They had left the house with her in a bothered, irritable mood, but now, she looked like a child gazing in wonderment at the vast world above her, wanting to know about his home world, what he thought of her world from his position.

And he laughed, so free and pleasant to her ears, that she turned to face him, her brows all furrowed and her lips in a pout, and even Fenrir looked up to his father, ice cream all over his mouth and snout.

"Mou, Loki-sama! I was being serious!"

"Sorry, sorry," he chuckled, "But to answer you. I don't know. I never bothered to look."

She rolled her eyes, "Geez, what kind of god are you?"

He grinned, staring at her, prepared to give her the greatest answer of all just to gauge her reaction, but alas, his words were never spoken because a certain ditz of a god appeared, standing on the light post next to their bench, and answered instead, "Loki is the most evil god there is! A kidnapper and torturer! A defiler of beautiful maidens!"

Loki, annoyed that someone would call him a 'defiler of maidens', which was so far from the truth, looked up, and why was he not surprised the idiot had somehow managed to make it down to Midgard, "Freyr..."

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, I got carried away... made it a bit long, so I have to continue and finish the rest later. I think I had too much fun with Heimdall & Freyr - they have such a funny _tsukkomi & boke_ (straight man & funny man duo) relationship.

I can't wait to write more about silly Freyr! I can already see him going against Loki in the next chapter... lol, hilarity ensues? Maybe! -kuro.


	17. Chapter 17

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Seventeen.**

"Freyr, get down from there before you fall and break your neck."

As much as Loki disliked the idiot's personal description of him, he couldn't be a heartless god and not warn him of the dangers that befell a person standing at such a tall height, with little coordination in his body. Of course, his warning came too late, when Freyr lost his balance, during his attempt to fling his index finger out to point at the boy, and went splat to the ground, right next to Mayura, who gasped and bent down to him.

"Kami-sama, are you okay?!"

"Mayura, step away from him," Loki urged, "You might catch his idiocy."

Freyr, of course survived the fall because he was just a lucky god, lifted his head and glared at a grinning Loki. Within seconds, he was on his feet again, whirled his cape to the side with all the drama of a stage diva, and pointed his finger at the boy, "You! Freyr shall not be deceived by your disguise as an innocent child! Freyr sees the truth to your evil deeds!"

"Don't worry, fair maiden!" he declared, without batting an eye in Mayura's direction but knowing that she was there and needed a righteous god's protection, "I shall protect you from this philandering beast!"

She blinked at him, "Eh, you're not Loki-sama's friend?"

Loki sweatdropped, "Mayura, please..."

"WHAT?! NO! NEVER!" he yelled, aghast that someone had lumped him into the same friendship circle as the devilish playboy. Wanting to set the girl straight before dealing out punishment against the immoral god, he turned to her with the determination and will of an iron wall... that suddenly crumbled under the innocent, penetrating gaze of one beautiful maiden of perfection that was apparently Mayura.

Freyr was speechless, staring dumbly at Mayura, who continued to blink at the strange god, and she thought the ones she already collected were abnormal. She looked over to Loki, who was frowning at the awe-struck god, not liking it one bit because he knew Freyr's expression very well, and asked, "Was he that offended by what I said?"

Loki opened his mouth to reply, but Freyr beat him to it again, grabbing Mayura's hand excitedly, "My _Yamato Nadeshiko_!"

* * *

"Argh!"

Kazumi, hiding in a tree, slapped a hand to his forehead at what he just saw Freyr do, grabbing the mortal's girl hand, and from the ecstatic look on his face, he knew that what the idiot god was thinking. After he had spotted Loki and Mayura by the park, he knew it was time to get Freyr in on the act and suggested he stop Loki from corrupting young women and then save his sister.

But watching the events unfold for the past few minutes, he wasn't sure if Freyr was going to pull through for him. So much for his plan on getting his revenge on Loki, but if he continued thinking along this path, he could still see Loki suffer... when his mortal girl ditched him for another god! The humiliation would hit his pride, and then Kazumi could then nail him with a punch afterwards and demand for his eye, or more violence could ensue.

"Oh my god, Heimdall, you are a genius!" he prided himself with the idea, though referring himself in the third-person was another story, "Dammit, Freyr." He was already picking up bad habits from the god, and they had only been in each other's presence for two hours on Midgard. (And damn the writer for adding in that stupid phrase, because he was not one to use it!)

The ground began to shake, and Kazumi grabbed onto the tree trunk, wondering what was going on. His eye wandered over to the group again, where the earth had split open, making a direct path towards Freyr and Mayura.

* * *

The girl's hand slipped from his grasp as she fell backwards, and Freyr's face contorted in to agony at being parted from the embodiment of his perfect, dream girl! The image of sparkling stars and blooming roses - so clichéd - when he first laid eyes on her now cracked, shattered to pieces, being wretched from her touch and thrown into a spiraling black hole. (What a drama queen.)

A fault line surged in between Freyr and Mayura, physically separating them, but Loki, returned to his real form, had caught Mayura before she hit the ground. Of course, this was the result of those daring to intervene in between Loki and Mayura and their lovely bond together, even gods couldn't fight against what the sacred wish system had created - that would be blasphemy!

Fenrir stood alert beside them, as they stared at the really wide gap in the earth, where its length just stretched from the middle of the street all the way into the park, and Freyr, who seemed to be stuck on the other side. The quake appeared to have stopped at this point, and Freyr was back on his feet again, shaking angry fists in the air in Loki's direction, shouting nonsense.

"How dare you Loki! Taking Freyr's important people! First, Freyr's beloved sister, Freya! And now, Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko!"

The blonde god pretended he couldn't hear Freyr's yelling, cupping a hand to his ear, "What? I can't hear you, Freyr! You'll have to come over here and tell me!" He laughed at the steam coming out of Freyr's head.

"Did he just shout Freya's name?" Mayura asked, still in Loki's safe arms.

"Ah," Loki nodded, "Freyr is Freya's brother."

"I would never have guessed!" she blurted out.

"Really?" he looked at her with a raised brow, smirking, "Even by their names?"

"Hrrm, Loki-sama is so mean!" she pouted.

He leaned down to her face, tugging on one of her cheeks, grinning, "Even so, I should get a reward for saving you."

"You want more ice cream?" she asked curiously.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, having let go of her cheek, and traced his thumb across her chin, right below her bottom lip, "Hmm, maybe something much sweeter."

'Daddy, daddy!'

Loki sighed, trying not to look irritated with the interruption from his son, "What is it, Fenrir?"

'That idiot is doing something over there!' the puppy pondered, 'Is he glowing?'

Mayura pulled out of Loki's embrace as the two straightened and stared across the the gap, eyes squinting to see that, indeed, Freyr was glowing, waving what appeared to be some kind of wand, letting a shower of bright sparkles of moon and stars fall around him. Within a few seconds of magical glory, Freyr shouted loudly, "Gullinbursti! I choose you!"

At his command, a rather large boar came tumbling from a pocket dimension in the sky and landed on his own summoner, causing Loki and Fenrir to wince at the excruciating pain under the weight of the giant boar. The animal scanned the area but couldn't find his owner, "Bwee?" He finally looked down and noticed the hand holding a wand and got up, off his master, "Bwee bwee~ee~!" The piggy sounds were something akin to an apology.

"Ah amazing!" Mayura cried, "He's a magical bishounen!"

Then said magical bishounen god hitched a ride on his pet boar, who scurried across the earth with his stumpy legs, rushing towards the edge. Mayura held her breath with anticipation, eyes glued on the duo, as Gullinbursti ran across the gap, like he was soaring through the air, and landed on the other side, in front of the group.

Freyr, from atop of Gullinbursti, smiled smugly at totally impressing his Yamato Nadeshiko with his powers and magical awesomeness as the better god, but Loki stood with a hand on his waist, wearing a deadpanned expression, "Really, Freyr? You couldn't just fly over here?"

"..."

"Freyr-sama was totally cool!"

Mayura flailed her arms excitedly and ran up to Gullinbursti, inspecting the boar from top to bottom in amazement, and Loki was far from amuse and mumbled something like 'idiot show off'. A happy Freyr hopped to the ground and patted the boar for a good job done, twirling the magical wand in his other hand like an expert, but it eventually became so complicated that the wand smacked him in the head.

"As clumsy as ever," Loki noted dryly.

"Gyah! Loki!" Freyr pointed the wand rudely to the god again, "Freyr challenges you to a battle! To save Freya and Yamato Nadeshiko from your evil clutches!"

"..."

* * *

Meanwhile back at the Daidouji home and shrine, Yamino was bringing a tray of hot tea towards the side building of the shrine, where he had carefully placed Freya in to her room, and he wondered if she would be all right. She snored away just like Narugami would, finding it rather ironic with the goddess of beauty and love, but of course, this being a place where the gods of Asgard had gather, the peace didn't remain very long.

Before he had even reached the door, Freya burst through the door, screaming for Loki, but seeing as it was just one of Loki's son, she glared at him.

Yamino smiled nervously, "Freya-san, I made some tea for you."

"Where's Loki?"

"He hasn't returned yet."

Frowning, she stomped pass him because she was so pissed that she was ditched for a mere mortal and slammed a fist into a large tree, a very large sacred tree of the shrine. Then the tree began to glow, engulfing the small area within its pure light. In seconds, the light faded, and Yamino and Freya could see again, and it was not a pleasant sight. The large tree had been completely uprooted, using its own thick roots as feet and legs for movement and its leafy branches as dangerous, flailing arms.

It began attacking the two in the vicinity, several branches piercing the ground where Freya had stood. She had spun to the side to avoid getting hit, while Yamino had blocked a branch with the tray, after dropping the teapot and cups to the ground. He grimaced at the broken porcelain collection that he had just acquired by mail that morning and turned a pair of fierce eyes at the tree.

Yamino swept his right hand in front of him, creating an arc through the air, and a wall of water shot into the air from the earth, slicing through several more branches targetting him. The ground beneath his feet suddenly rumbled, almost toppling him to the dirt, and many roots exploded into the air, shooting up from behind Yamino, with his back as its target.

* * *

Loki ducked, evading the giant shooting star that slammed into a tree behind him and disintegrated the whole thing, and sweatdropped. Mayura had held her breath when the battle had begun, squeezing the life out of poor Fenrir in her arms, but when the attack had missed the blonde god, she breathed again and so did the puppy, much to his relief.

It had happened in a few seconds when Freyr pointed the wand at Loki, and the shooting of bright stars and moons began, in the thankfully empty park with a major cleft in the earth, as if no one in the area had felt the strange physical disturbance. Well, because of the recent weird destruction in the district, many people thought it was best to not be out on the streets late, which was quite smart of these mortals and very convenient for the gods to wreck havoc on Midgard with less prying eyes.

Loki pivoted to the side, letting the crescent moon swoop by and nick a part of the fountain spout. Freyr, clearly upset, stomped his foot, "LOKI! Fight Freyr like a man!"

The god gave him a flat expression, "Says the god with a magical wand, blasting stars and moons at his opponent."

Freyr ground his teeth at the insult and transformed the wand into a large broadsword, which earned several more sweatdrops from the audience, and Fenrir grumbling in the background, asking why he didn't use a sword in the first place, even though there was no chance of winning for him because, 'Daddy will kick his ass back to Asgard!'

Mayura told him, "Oh, you're such a daddy's boy, Fenrir!"

"Bwee bwee!" came Gullinbursti's cheery voice, supporting his master. He was sitting next to Mayura as they watched the fight, "Bwee~ee~!"

'Quiet, porky! Don't make me eat you!'

The huge boar sweatdropped, glaring at the puppy who stuck his snout into the air haughtily, and Mayura wondered aloud, "But magical bishounen heroes always win, right?"

'Then what do you think daddy is?'

"Um..."

The girl thought about it, long and hard, while the fighting continued in the foreground, blasts of fire coming from Loki while Freyr would slice the elemental attack with the sword and then retaliate with his own wind magic, like this was an every day event. In a way, it had become just that when a god - friend or foe - would just drop down on earth, right into one's home, and the adventures had become endless.

Of course this battle was not enough, and Fenrir would not get an answer to his question because a light flashed from the water in the fountain, and then all the water shot straight into the air and rained down on them, putting out Loki's flames in the process, along with his interest in beating the crap out of Freyr.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Freyr, dripping wet now, looked about.

Loki brushed a hand through his hair, slicking it back from his handsome face, and sighed, cursing the stupid jaki for picking the terrible times to make an entrance, but this time, he believed that Freyr was at fault for disturbing the annoying spirit. Now that their fight had ended due to the interruption, he turned to Mayura and Fenrir, with Gullinbursti, who were all near the possessed fountain, and shouted for them to get away from it.

A surprised Mayura squeaked just as she stepped aside, barely dodged a pillar of water dumped down the old spot that she had stood. She tripped over her own foot in the process and went tumbling to the ground anyway, allowing Fenrir to hop out of her arms.

"Ah my Yamato Nadeshiko! I'll save you!" Freyr declared, running towards her, waving his sword haphazardly around, until another column of water fell on him.

* * *

All the while, Kazumi was still in his tree, watching the chaos happening in the park and enjoying every bit of it. He never thought a random _jaki_ would cause so much trouble for them, and now with it attacking Loki and Freyr, it was like a blessing from the heavens to help him rid his enemies from existence.

If only he had some popcorn, it would make the viewing so much better.

* * *

**Notes:** Doh, it was getting too long again. I decided to add more _jaki_-ness - two this time - so this subplot will end in the next chapter. Freyr's not as funny as I had originally planned, but still works! I imagined him to be the god that fit perfectly (and sorta willingly for his beloved Yamato Nadeshiko) into the magical bishounen role with humorous results. He even has his own magical boar mascot, lol.

And when will I ever let Loki and Mayura have some private time, without any interruptions? Probably not for a few more chapters, lol! Thanks~! -kuro.


	18. Chapter 18

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Eighteen.**

"Hyoo~raaaah~!" came Narugami's voice, and a single slice of Mjollnir took out the lot of overgrown roots, preventing Yamino from being harmed. It was a perfect, dramatic entrance from the god of thunder, saving his best friend's kid in the nick of time, and he stood proudly, with Mjollnir now on his shoulder, next to Yamino, "Heh, a _jaki_ was under out nose all this time?"

"Apparently," Yamino sighed and then panicked, "Ah, where's Daidouji-san?" He was worried that the mortal would discover their identities and then kick them out of the house, not that that would really be the reason he would choose, but considering the destroyed property would put any rational person into a frenzy.

"Oh, sensei's taking a nap," he shrugged. Yamino sweatdropped, thinking he most likely knocked Daidouji unconscious, and the god continued to grin, "Have to keep him out of trouble, right?"

They glance over to Freya, who had her chainsaw, cutting through all the branches and roots that dared to attack her, wearing a rather sadistic smile, as she enjoyed dishing out pain, "Hehehe... you want more?! I'll give you more! The pain of breaking a goddess' heart! AHAHAHA!"

She began to radiate a golden light around her, which seemed to give her oodles of power, swinging the chainsaw around her madly, "DIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"

The two sweatdropped, leaving the hard part to Freya, while they dealt with the main part of the tree that appeared to have housed the mischievous spirit. Yamino summoned his power to shield them from further attacks as he escorted Narugami closer to the trunk, and when they were right at the base, the large root kicked against the barrier, cracking it just a bit. Yamino strengthened the shield with more of his power, allowing Narugami to charge up Mjollnir with his wickedly cool lightning powers - what a show off.

At least it took less time to charge it now, compared to the last time, and with a fierce battle cry, Narugami impaled Mjollnir right into the sacred tree's trunk. The lightning zapped through every inch of the tree, letting the branches and roots withered till it returned to normal, though having a huge tree suddenly falling over in the yard wasn't very normal.

And boy, would they have a lot of explaining to do, when Daidouji woke up.

* * *

Loki was able to avoid the few spurts of water that targeted him, because he loathed water, being the god of fire, while making his way to the girl. He paused, watching the giant Gullinbursti taking the hit of water to protect Mayura and kept rolling away from the blast of water. It would've been a hilarious sight, the boar rolling right over Freyr's form too, but getting to Mayura was more important, and he quietly thanked the magical boar.

Fenrir had resumed his original form, towering over the fountain, and opened his jaw and clamped it over the large water spout, but that did not stop it from shooting more water, directly into the wolf's mouth. The strength of the blast forced him to unclamp his jaw from it, almost hurling him into the air.

A flood of water gushed out from the fountain, leveling the trees, and soaked the earth like a huge sponge. Everyone was slowly caught up in it, but Loki managed to grab Mayura before she was swept away by the current, which luckily flowed right into the chasm created earlier. They swam to a fallen tree and pulled themselves out of the water, sweatdropping when they saw Freyr on Gullinbursti, ordering him to swim against the current so he could smite the evil fountain.

Ignoring the buffoon, Loki inspected the girl, "Are you all right, Mayura?"

She nodded, attempting to wring out her hair of excess water, and it had become too quiet between them, so she glanced over to him, catching him openly staring at her. Her wet, soaked form from top to bottom, a lovely image engraved into his mind, for some unexplanable reason, but it was very inviting in a way.

Loki-sama?" she called hesitantly, an unreadable emotion flickered in his eyes briefly.

He snapped out of it and met her eyes, steadily, "Hm?"

"Um, maybe we should do something about this?" she waved her hand around them.

"Ah, yes," he coughed, "Of course."

He stood up and waved the giant Fenrir over to them, and he gave her a final look that told her to stay in this one safe spot. She only pouted in response and turned away, sulking at his silent demand. He grinned and hopped onto the wolf's back, wondering when they started to converse without words, not that it bothered him, but it was just the opposite. The strange warm feeling in his chest felt nice, at the thought that she understood him from just an expression.

He looked over to her once more, and she was staring in his direction, worry etched all over her face and posture. Having caught his eyes, she leaned forward, shouting, "Be careful, Loki-sama! Fenrir!"

His smile widened, and he gave a wave of acknowledgement.

All right time to get down to business and deal with the annoying jaki, so he could return to Mayura's side and get his much deserved reward from her. Sure, his intentions and goals were less than heroic, but who could say no to a damsel in distress, right?

At least he wasn't dressing it up with fancy heroic words and false pretenses, unlike some delusional god, and his eyes trailed over to Freyr and Gullinbursti, who were still fighting the current up to the fountain. He was surprised the boar with short, stumpy legs made it that far. Fenrir was able to swim up to it in no time, just as an exhausted boar caught up to them.

The fountain attacked again, spraying water at them, not sure if the aim was to get them angrier at getting extremely soaked because it was a completely lame attack at this point. All Loki had to do was summon a barrier of fire, even if it was quickly extinguished, steam rising from the contact of two opposing elements.

Unfortunately, Loki had only protected himself and Fenrir, leaving a rather soaked and pissed off Freyr to glare at the two He pointed the sword at the blonde god, "You heathen!"

Loki shrugged, "If you want to impress Mayura, you might want to deal the final blow."

At the mention of the lovely Yamato Nadeshiko, Freyr turned back to the girl in the distance and blushed, and Loki just rolled his eyes at how easy it was to dupe the moron. "Okay!" he replied, "But Freyr is only doing it for Yamato Nadeshiko! Not because you told me too!"

He stood up on Gullinbursti and raised the sword high into the air and shouted, "LOVELY FREYR TRANSFORMATION!" At those magical words, the sword glowed again, pulsating a bright light, and in a flash, blinding all briefly even Mayura in the far distance, Freyr emerged from the light, reappearing in a more elaborate princely suit and longer, flowy cape.

Loki and Fenrir sweatdropped, embarrassed for all who were in the area having to witness such cheesy melodrama, even the _jaki_-possessing fountain had sweatdropped, but this wasn't just any normal transformation, it was a magical bishounen power up mode for Freyr that doubled his strength greatly - if anyone could believe that.

Then after several arm gestures and different poses, Freyr declared, "Freyr will smite the evil that plagues Yamato Nadeshiko's land!" He took a giant leap into the air, with the magical sword in both hands, raised high over his head, but the fountain wasn't going to go down without a fight and blasted more cold water at the hero, but it was Loki and his fire that protected him, as the sword came down on the park's beloved centerpiece. With it being stationary, there was no way it could avoid being destroyed.

The sound of the water fizzled against the flames, followed by a thunderous crash, and a thousand pieces of the fountain exploded into the air and eventually the water that had been flowing from the fountain stopped, and the rest of the water disappeared into the gap or absorbed into the earth. The once monumental water spout was now destroyed, empty and dry, and the neighborhood was going to be in an uproar the next day.

Loki walked among the rubble, attempting to trace the piece that contained the jaki, with the jaki container in his hand. He felt the lingering spirit and knelt down to pick up a piece of stone, and with a single tap, the jaki was pulled out of the object and stuffed into the container. All completed before Loki shrunk to his powerless state, along with Fenrir who had dropped into his naked human form.

The boy turned to his son, who just sat there rubbing the back of his head, and sighed, "We really need to do something about that."

There was a sudden poof, and Loki and Fenrir turned towards the noise, finding Gullinbursti had shrunk down to a tiny piglet and a de-transformed Freyr was staggering around like a drunk man, and eventually, he just tipped over, slurring incoherently about his precious Yamato Nadeshiko.

And just great, what everyone needed, a drunk Freyr in his powerless state.

At least he wouldn't mind missing a cape or some pants, to which Loki shrugged and motioned for Fenrir to take off the outer pieces of clothing to cover himself with, just in time for Mayura to rejoined them. She leaned over an intoxicated Freyr, "Ne Loki-sama, what should we do about Freyr-sama?"

"I'm sure they pick up trash in the morning," he grinned.

"Mou Loki-sama! That's mean!"

"Bwee bwee!" came little Gullinbursti's upset squeals.

"Aaw, you're so cute!" she cooed and picked up the piglet.

"Oi, Witch Girl!" Fenrir, now wearing Freyr's pants and cape - leaving the passed out god with boxers on - stomped over to her and puffed up his cheeks in anger, "You said I was the cute one!" He held out his hands to her, wanting to be held too, because there was no way that pig was going to replace his cute self, and he was so not jealous! Nope, not cute, lovable Fenrir! He had more pride than that, but if that dumb pig got in his way, he would just have pork for dinner.

Mayura and Loki sweatdropped at a very determined Fenrir, hands still outstretched waiting to be hugged and cuddled, nevermind that he was fully human, and there was no way Loki would allow his son to be with Mayura in that form. And when in the nine worlds did Fenrir get to be so clingy to anyone other than his own father?

Loki sighed and spared Mayura a glance, as she compromised with Fenrir with a pat on his head, and he smiled, amusement dancing in his eyes at the sight of his other son, also, becoming fond of the girl. In so little time, several gods had fallen into her life, gradually bringing excitement and adventure to her every day, but he believed it was just the opposite.

She had been the one who had entangled herself in to their lives, somehow inching her way into their hearts, and he couldn't help but smile, now understanding why she had been chosen to have her wish granted, at the brightness of her soul shimmering in to the night.

* * *

"Ano..."

Mayura sounded so unsure, as the group returned to the house from their outing, hours later, to find Narugami had passed out into slumber, dozing away in the common room with a sighing Yamino in his snake form curling on the table top, and a somewhat familiar face of the young man - the short, blonde hair reminiscent of a certain goddess - sulking in the corner. At the sound of Loki's voice, the new face perked up and glomped himself on to the boy.

"Freya?" he blinked.

"OH LOKI!" he wailed, "Look what happened to me! I'm in this hideous form! You won't love me anymore!"

"..."

Um right, Loki just didn't feel that way about the blonde goddess at all, in either forms, but something must have also happened for the three of them to end up in their powerless states.

"Freya-sama?!" Mayura gasped, "Oh my god, what happened?! You turned into a handsome bishounen!"

Freya burst in to tears, wailing Loki and everyone to deaf, and somehow managed to tell them what happened to her that forced her in to the powerless state. More banshee crying ensued, forcing Fenrir, who had lugged the dead weight of a drunken god home, to drop said god to the floor and flee from the room. Not too far behind was Loki, grabbing the snake on the table to spare his son from the excruciating pain and pulling a befuddled Mayura out of the room, leaving Narugami to sleep through the whole thing.

Poor Freya continued to weep at the pitiful state of being a man, from using the rest of her powers to return the sacred tree to its former glory because it was the right thing to do for the Daidouji family.

"Freya?" Freyr managed to regain some consciousness, crawling over to his sister, and hugged her male form. Both siblings reunited and consoled each other.

And this was the scene that Kazumi had returned to, fuming after the pathetic ending where neither Loki nor Freyr were harmed in the conflict against the _jaki_.

* * *

"Ooh~ so we had a _jaki_ all along!"

Mayura poked at Mjollnir still stuck in trunk of the shrine's sacred tree, pinning the spirit in place so it wouldn't cause anymore disturbance until Loki could capture it, which would have to be the next day when his powers returned to summon the jaki container. She walked around the tree, making sure everything else was all right with it, not wanting her father to worry when he woke up, but amazingly, Freya was able to return the site to normal.

"Hm, I wonder why they're suddenly popping up in Midgard," Loki thought aloud, rubbing his chin, with an alert Yamino seated on his head.

"Is it so uncommon?" the girl questioned.

"Ah well, the last time one appeared was twenty years ago. But for four to occur within a week, it's a bit suspicious." His eyes rose up to the night sky, and she stopped moving about and followed his gaze. "Something must have happened in Asgard, and I'm sure this is connected to the gateway being closed."

Mayura giggled, and he turned to look at her, a raised, curious brow. She smiled, leaning forward with both hands clasped behind her back, "You sound just like a detective, Loki-sama!"

"Oh?" he grinned, a hand on his waist, and a wink to the girl, "And what do you think a detective needs?"

She straightened her posture, mirroring his pose with a hand on her hip. She smiled and winked, holding up her two fingers in a victory sign, "A beautiful assistant!"

* * *

**Notes:** Phew, all right! There's the conclusion! *scratches her head* Does it seem rushed? I knew what I wanted to write so it took me a few hours to get it typed. Lol, so Freyr gets drunk and Freya turns into a guy, in their powerless state, which I thought was hilarious! *grins*

I think, the next plot might be the final one to close up the series, but we will see! Thanks! -kuro.


	19. Chapter 19

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Nineteen.**

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Daidouji had begun talking to the group that had convene that morning in the common room, with a few new faces and some missing ones, "Yamino-kun left again to see his grandparents? And Freya-san had gone to work?"

As confusing as the situation was, Yamino had went to visit his grandparents without his older brother, Ichirou, who was yawning loudly, still doused with sleep, and then there was Freya, who had crashed at the house, had a job? A job but no place to live? A strange set up there, but he shook those questions away, focusing on the new faces.

The blonde and brunette, who appeared to be unwell, half awake and propped up by his annoyed sibling, had claimed to be Freya's brothers, and he could see the faint, very faint, resemblances, especially in the blonde one but still, this was all a bit much to take in after missing a whole night of memories. He somehow woke up in bed, after recalling being in the main shrine with Narugami when they both heard something crash outside.

His student was still sprawled out in the room, snoring away, and he could see Kazumi's twitchy hand, suspecting the boy trying not to strangle the noisy entity in the background. Ichirou yawned again, with Mayura joining him this time, both with moist eyes, trying to stay awake on a Saturday morning, while Loki's attention was on the morning newspaper because he was bored with what he already knew. The situation was just a formality for Daidouji to meet their new tenants, and he already felt sorry for the mortal to have to, unknowingly, deal with all these gods within his home.

"Right," he coughed, "So you are Freyr, and... Rei?"

"Kaitou Freyr, sir!" the brunette snapped his head straight up, smiling goofily, his expression reeked of intoxication, and clumsily shook the man's hand, while Rei sat quietly and appeared to be sulking.

All eyes fell on an incoherent, babbling Freyr, wondering where in the world he had grabbed such a strange name, but it was Loki who, unfortunately, understood the idiot's way of thinking as a dramatic and romantic fool. Being a mysterious and elusive 'phantom thief' fell into that category the idiot so adored, and Loki just wanted to smack his forehead but resumed reading the news, with Yamino, in his father's front coat pocket, sweatdropping.

The phone suddenly rang through the house, and Mayura excused her to answer it, and when she was leaving, Loki's eyes followed her figure, which Daidouji immediately took notice of. His left eye twitched, recalling what Narugami had said the day before, and he opened his mouth to get the truth out of the boy, but Freyr was still speaking nonsense to him, something about an honor living under the same roof as Yamato Nadeshiko and maybe asked for her hand in marriage and the father's blessing.

"What?" Daidouji, confused, had faced Freyr again because he had heard about a blessing of a marriage, but his attention was drawn away again when Mayura had poked her head back in to the room, calling for him, and he missed Loki's rolled up newspaper flying in to Freyr's face.

"Papa, it's Kanda-san from Kushida Shrine," she informed him.

"Ah, please make yourselves at home," he quickly addressed the Kaitou siblings, and stood up to get the call from his daughter, who returned to the others.

Mayura smiled to Freyr and a still gloomy Freya, "Don't worry, guys! You only have about twelve hours left!"

Freya just glared at her and made a 'hrmmf' sound, but it was Fenrir who spoke up, "Witch Girl, I'm hungry!"

"Oh right!" she looked at poor Yamino, "I forgot about breakfast."

She was about to get up again and make something for the whole family to eat, but her father had quickly returned to them and informed them he had to leave for Fukuoka right away. Apparently, Kanda, an old friend of his who was also a Shinto priest, had fallen ill and needed assistance at the shrine for a few days, and with the past days being so slow around their own shrine, he had promised to make the trip.

So without further ado, Daidouji went to pack while Mayura prepared a quick breakfast for all before he left, which meant she would be stuck alone with a group of gods for at least four days, and this information brought a mischievous smile to a certain trickster god, who was going to have a lot of fun in his real form for a few days.

* * *

"Aaahh, Loki-sama!" Mayura managed to say in between her breaths, finally able to stop running for a break, "Where are we going?!"

After Daidouji had left in a taxi to the train station, Loki had dragged the girl out in to the streets of the city, purposely leaving behind the unwanted and rather useless gods at this point. He had stopped to look around before letting go of her hand. He motioned for her to follow him, without answering her, and she did, like a curious kitten, and the pair ended up in front of the _Mysterious Water World_ aquatic center.

There was a sign outside that the place was closed for construction, due to the _jaki_ incident that destroyed the main exhibit about two days ago, not that the authorities ever figured out what had happened. The place was locked down tight, as Mayura try to peer through the windows, but they had been covered to avoid prying eyes.

There was nothing special about this place, and no more strange energy lurked about it either, so Loki wondered if all of the _jaki_ business had been a fluke on Midgard.

"Ne Loki-sama," Mayura walked back to him, "do you think we will find anything here?"

He shook his head, "There's nothing left here."

"What about the others?"

"Probably the same."

She frowned, "Mou, this is difficult to solve!"

He looked at her and grinned, "We could call Urd again."

"Hmm, that is true." She gazed up to the clear, blue skies, "But it's so nice today!"

"Yes, it is." He started walking down the street again, with her at his side, "What shall we do today?"

She clasped her hands together, excitedly, "Oh, there's this really nice cafe... with lots of delicious pastries! You'll love their tea too! Or... the amusement park! The rides are so fun! Or..."

"Ah Mayura!"

The pair turned around to see a smiling Koutaro jogging over to them, and now Loki scooted closer to the girl and grabbed her hand possessively. The teenager stared down to the boy, expression tried to remain pleasant, but he just had a bad feeling whenever he was near the kid, "And Chibi-Loki..."

With a curl of his lips in to a crafty grin, Loki eyed the competition, "Ah, kaa-san's friend."

Twitch, from both teenagers.

"Hi, Koutaro-kun," Mayura sweatdropped, and having sense Loki's uneasiness and the tightened of his hand, she went straight to the point with her classmate, "What can we do for you?"

"Um, I was about to stop by your house," he rubbed the back of his head, recalling the incident where they were chased by some thing, "Ever since Friday night, I tried to call you... to see if you were all right."

"Oh! Yes, we're fine!" she laughed, hoping that he didn't pick up on anything strange, and Loki glanced at her, sighing at how terrible she was at hiding secrets or lying. "You know how Tokyo is! Crazy people everywhere! Hehe."

"Aha, you're right!" he laughed too, "For a moment, I really thought it was a monster!"

"NOPE! HA, JUST SOME WEIRDO IN A COSTUME! HAHA."

"RIGHT! HAHA."

A deadpanned Loki stared at the laughing teenagers, because there were just some people who actually fell for this type of girl and her sweet innocence. He sighed and tugged her hand, "Kaa-san, let's get going. You promised to take me to the amusement park." She blinked and let herself be dragged along, as he waved Koutaro away, "See ya, kaa-san's friend."

Loki, proud of himself for smoothly ditching the teenage lover boy, grinned, but he did not realize what kind of trouble he had gotten himself in to by inviting himself on a trip to the amusement park. From just the first ride, the kiddy one with the teacups that didn't even go that fast, the smile was wiped off his face, and he knew that this was a punishment from Odin. When the ride stopped, Loki hopped out of seat and ran to the nearest trashcan.

Mayura walked up behind him, worried, and placed a comforting hand on his back, "I'm sorry, Loki-sama. I didn't know you didn't like rides."

"I didn't know either," he grumbled.

After a few more moments of getting to know the trashcan, she handed him a handkerchief, and he accepted it and cleaned himself up.

"I'll be right back!" she told him and ran off.

He went to sit down on a nearby bench, lost in his thoughts, because he just couldn't believe a mortal children's ride had thrown a god of his status into such a pathetic state as puking into a trashcan. Who knew he was so weak against such contraptions, and the humiliation of it all, in front of Mayura no less. He cursed Odin, having a feeling that the jerk god was probably watching this mishap and even recording it for future blackmail.

Leaning back against the bench, he closed his eyes and dropped the back of his hand over them. He was beginning to feel a bit better now, but he just wanted to return to his bed after such a terrible experience.

"Loki-sama? Are you all right now?"

He opened one eye to see the worried girl kneeling by the bench, next to him, "Ah."

She gave him a bottle of water, "Drink this. You need to get re-hydrated."

He sat up and took the bottle from her, "Thank you." He opened it and downed the refreshing, cool liquid, feeling re-energized again.

Seeing that his complexion had returned to normal, Mayura let out a sigh of relief and dropped her head on to his lap, mumbling her apology over and over. He gazed down at her head, eyes softened at her sincerity, and of course, he knew she didn't do it on purpose - even he didn't know about this weakness of motion sickness. He put the bottle to the side and laid a hand on her head, fingers brushing through her silky, pink hair.

Despite the bumpy start of their trip, he didn't regret initiating it and did enjoy these rare moments with her. His mind wandered back to the beginning, when they first met after the one phone call, and he was just doing a job, never thinking that he would get involved with a mortal. As strange as it was, their relationship between a god and a mortal, neither had ever labeled each other, finding each other's presence was enough to forget the world was still moving around them.

The mere three weeks had felt like many years of friendship, and he wondered if she thought the same.

He had been so quiet that she dared to shift her head, raising her eyes, filled with guilt, up to see his face, but she was only met with a gentle smile, gazing down at her. "Loki-sama?" she blushed, trying to look elsewhere.

"Hm?" he found her expression so adorable and smiled.

"A-Are you mad at me?" came her soft voice.

He scoffed and turned his nose upwards, "Of course!" Her head jerked up from his lap with very apologetic eyes, her mouth opened to speak, but he continued, "I don't want to be the only one enjoying this trip."

She blinked, confused by his words.

He rolled his eyes and took her hands within his, hopping off the bench, both now standing, "Well?"

"What?"

"We should make the most of today, right?"

"Well yes, but-"

"Aren't you going to show me other things besides the rides?"

"Ah..." She slowly let his words soak into her brain and then brightened up, "There's tons of games! And you get all sorts of prizes! OH! There's a really big maze! And it leads to a haunted house! Really scary! Then there's..." She was back to her normal self, rattling on about the various, interesting spots that didn't involve any rides, as they walked to their next destination, hand in hand.

* * *

By the time, Mayura and Loki returned home that night after spending a whole day at the amusement park, having found so many things to do together, especially getting lost in that maze and haunted house - the highlight of their trip - and somehow managed to get through it all without a single problem. Things appeared to have returned to normal too because as soon as Loki stepped through the threshold, an energetic Freya had glomped his child form.

"Loki! I missed you!" she tried to kiss him, but he pressed his hand against her cheek to prevent it, "Where were you?!"

"Just went for a walk..."

"What?! Without me?! How could you, Loki!"

Loki sighed and looked over to Mayura, who appeared to be ignoring the affectionate display in her house, slipping off her shoes. "Mayura," he stiffened from Freya's tight hold, "A little help here?"

She turned to him with annoyance written all over her face, and he flinched at being on the receiving end of it, and it didn't get better from her words either, "I'm sure Freya-sama would be happy to help."

"GYAAH! Loki! Unhand my sister, you fiend!" came Freyr's voice, followed by the god pulling his sister off Loki.

"Nii-sama! Let go! I want to be alone with my Loki!"

Freya had her foot in her brother's face, trying to dislodge him from her person, while holding on to her dear Loki, who seemed to be suffering the most from all this. The noise in the hallway brought Yamino, Fenrir, Gullinbursti, Narugami and Kazumi - the first three from the kitchen, and then the common room and upstairs respectively between the last two - and they all stared at the scene.

"This is ridiculous," Mayura mumbled under her breath. With a firm decision, she stepped over to a grateful Loki and pried Freya's hands off the boy, much to the goddess' dismay and her brother's surprise and admiration of the pink-haired girl.

"What do you think-"

Freya was cut off by Mayura's sudden, uncharacteristic glare, and it took a few seconds for the blonde to gather herself together, back to the prideful goddess that she was, as she stood against the mortal girl. Loki and the other gods found themselves in a very bad situation, though they were all frozen in their spots at the confrontation, and no one wanted to make any sudden move for fear of the blonde goddess' anger.

They also worried for the safety of their mortal hostess, but Loki was astonished at Mayura's sudden boldness and bravery and wondered if the girl had lost her mind to go against Freya, even though he did ask her to help.

The goddess flipped her hair and raised her nose into the air, "What do you want?"

Mayura, still glaring, replied, "Leave Loki-sama alone."

She gasped, "That's none of your business!"

"It is my business if you live here," she stated, and one could almost here the 'ooooh' from the crowd. "I'm sorry, Freya-sama, but you have to behave yourself while you're in this world. It's all I can offer you until you can return to your home."

Freya was quiet, reprimanding herself mentally for the bad impression of a goddess of Asgard, but she felt a teeny bit of shame for having treated the hostess with rudeness. All the girl ever did was welcome her into her home with kindness - really the only kind, honest refuge on Midgard she had, that didn't question her identity, nor her past.

She turned away, waving her hand casually, "Fine. I need a nice, hot bath anyway."

Mayura smiled, a warm, sweet smile that was very grateful for the goddess' understanding, "Thank you, Freya-sama!"

Freya caught a glimpse of the sincere girl's beautiful smile and blushed. "Ugh, don't give me that look!" she ordered and stomped to the stairs and up to the second floor, fuming that she couldn't believe she was losing to that mortal girl but refused to give up. She would outdo her fair and square and become the better woman for Loki!

Loki, having reverted back to his original form, and everyone else was impressed at what had transpired before their eyes, and he could see from the corner of his eye a worshipping Freyr was about to latch onto Mayura, so he quickly dashed for the girl, taking her into his arms, and stepped aside to let the idiot slam face first in to the wall. A panicky Gullinbursti scurried over to his dazed master, while everyone gradually returned to their original activity, now that the house was really back to normal.

The blonde god chuckled to himself at having foiled Freyr's plans of snatching the girl now in his arms. He looked down at her, her back pressed against his chest, and smiled, giving her a squeeze and dropping his chin on top of her head. He still couldn't get the beautiful image of her standing up against Freya out of his mind, not that he wanted to. She was magnificent, glowing beautifully even in the presence of a goddess.

He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent, strangely intoxicated by every inch of her. He felt her body tensing within his embrace and grinned, knowing that he was having such an effect on her.

"Loki-sama..."

"Hm?"

He opened an eye to see the turn of her head and the adorable pout she was wearing, as she sighed, "That means you need to behave too!"

"What if I don't?" he raised a brow, curious of her response.

She furrowed her brows and puffed her cheeks at him but didn't get any further because the phone rang again. It was picked up on the third ring by Yamino, after entering the hallway and blushing at the intimate position his father and Mayura were in, and he answered it. The color seemed to have drained from his face when it slowly turned towards the pair, and he pulled the receiver from his ear, "Ah Loki-sama, it's for you."

Loki and Mayura exchanged curious glances, and the girl sighed, "Another long distance call?"

"It's Odin-sama."

* * *

**Notes:** Okay, so this was sort of a filler? Lol, I wanted to add some more MayuLoki-ness! It's a bit longer than most chapters, but I enjoyed writing it. I like having Mayura stand up to Freya, and I know I made Mayura a bit weak and not crazy jealous with Freya around... and I think it's because she hasn't define her relationship with Loki, and neither has Loki. They're definitely friends, close friends - a gradual development to something more that each is slow to realize and try to understand. Loki would realize it sooner because of his "experiences" over the centuries, but Mayura is just a mortal teenager, with practically zero friends and one admirer, lol.

Ah, I know I mentioned one more subplot before I end the series... What I meant is the end of the first arc of the series, lol. *grins*

I also realized that this story had hit a 4-year anniversary, lol, even though there was like a 3-year gap! I guess all this updating makes up for it? Lol, thanks! -kuro.


	20. Chapter 20

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty.**

"Thank you," Yamino made a slight bow, on instinct, to the person at the other end of the phone line before hanging up and placing the receiver in its place. He entered the common room again, where all residents of the Daidouji home - excluding the man of the house who had left to Fukuoka - were present for a very important meeting concerning all of their fates.

"I've placed the order for dinner, Loki-sama," his youngest son notified, since everyone had just recently returned to their regular forms, he didn't have time to prepare dinner so delivery was the ideal choice, "The food shall arrive in forty-five minutes."

Loki nodded, seated at one side of the table with Mayura who had Fenrir in her lap, "Thank you, Yamino. This discussion shouldn't take long." He clasped his hands together on the table and leaned forward, looking very serious, as his son took the empty spot to his left. He eyed each god carefully (and for dramatic purposes) from Narugami at Mayura's right to Kazumi and finally the siblings, with tiny Gullinbursti wedged between them, across from him.

"I spoke to Odin tonight," he announced and gauge each person's reaction. The majority of them were surprised, but Freyr shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Overall, they were eager to know more, because each one of them wanted to return to Asgard.

"There seems to be an uproar in Asgard, concerning our disappearances," he paused and looked thoughtful, "I guess it started with mine."

Everyone looked at Mayura, because they knew she was the reason Loki was on Midgard, and she sweatdropped. Loki waved his hand at them, signaling that it wasn't the problem, "But Odin had approved of it, however of a jerk he might be."

Narugami snorted and rolled his eyes.

"I supposed he didn't expect Jormungand and Fenrir to come after me."

Yamino ducked his head, trying to avoid the gazes on him, embarrassed at being mentioned, but his older brother just put his paws on the table proudly as if what he did was the right thing and if anyone had a problem with it, they could just kiss his behind or say hello to his paws a few times, 'What're ya lookin' at?!'

"Geez Fenrir, you're such a cute, li'l bossman," Mayura giggled and rubbed his head, and he barked to show how tough he was, but the happy wagging tail told them otherwise.

Narugami, resting Mjollnir against his shoulder, cut in, "So us being down here is a big deal? Then he shouldn't have kicked me out."

Loki shook his head, "It wasn't a problem at first, but now that all of Asgard know about us being down here, Odin was forced to close the gateway to prevent the other idiots from joining us."

"Joining us willingly?" Kazumi snorted. "It wasn't like I had a choice."

"Me neither!" Narugami sighed.

"Hmm?" Mayura fell into her thinking pose, a finger to her chin, "I thought Kazumi-kun came down to play with Loki-sama."

Both gods turned to her, eyes twitching, as the one-eyed god huffed out, "I came to find my right eye. I was told it had disappeared from Asgard, shortly after Loki left."

Loki scoffed, "So you just assumed that I stole it?!" After a moment, he smirked, "I thought you were smarter than that, Heimdall."

"Why you-"

Narugami held the boy back as he spoke, bringing them all back to the topic at hand, "So what exactly did father say?"

"It's about the _jaki_," Loki eyed Freyr, who suddenly found his hands more interesting than anything else, "Because the gateway was close, someone found a way around it."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm, how should I say this...?"

"..."

"OKAY!" Freyr slammed his fists down on the table, waking up everyone if they hadn't been dozing off by now, "It's Freyr's fault! Freyr missed Freyr's beloved sister, but Freyr couldn't come to Midgard to find her... so Freyr knocked over a _jaki_ jar..."

"On purpose?" Narugami's brows rose straight up to his hairline.

"On purpose," the guilty god stated aid in a small voice, twiddling with his fingers. The punishment for a serious crime, such as releasing the jaki - whether intentional or not - was banishment to Midgard, and that was all Freyr wanted, so he could find his dear sister. No one was surprised that the idiot didn't even think about the repercussion of his actions.

Loki resumed the explanation, "The jar spilled into Midgard, releasing all the jaki that Tyr had acquired."

"Ouch," Narugami winced, "I bet the muscle-head is pissed. He spent about 102 years collecting them."

"So that's why the _jaki_ have appeared," Yamino said.

Freya frowned, "Well that explains the _jaki_ problem, but that doesn't help us with our problems."

Mayura smiled, "Don't worry, Freya-sama, I'm sure Odin-sama has a solution. He just wouldn't call Loki-sama out of the blue, right?" She turned to the god next to her with her optimistic smile, which he couldn't help but return with his own, because she was right on her guess.

Loki nodded, looking at the others, "Mayura's right. Odin has ordered us to recapture the loose jaki, and as a reward upon completion, he will allow us to return to Asgard."

"I don't have a problem with that," Kazumi started, "but what about my eye?"

The blonde god shook his head, "You might want to speak to Odin about it. He didn't give me any further information."

Fenrir growled, 'How convenient for Odin! To hand this mess to us!' Then he glared in Freyr's direction, 'And it's your fault!'

Freyr stared at his hands, feeling ashamed, "Freyr is sorry."

"Hey! It's not a problem, guys!" Mayura waved the tension away, "What's done is done, right? We can only move forward now! This is a chance you were given so you can return home!"

"Hm, I have to admit," Freya appeared to be smiling a bit, "she is right about that."

"All right!" Narugami was pumped and ready to proceed with their new goal, "Operation: Amass the Jaki Escapees, commencing..." His stomach growled loudly, "Erm, tomorrow!"

* * *

Meanwhile in Asgard, Odin was satisfied with the results of his phone call to Loki. As far as he was concerned, the bunch of misfit gods could remain stranded on Midgard, but the renegade _jaki_ were another matter that had to be dealt with immediately. It was a brilliant plan to have them do the work for him, instead of sending some idiot god, or Tyr again, to fetch the annoying spirits. He knew tempting them with the chance to return to Asgard would seal the deal, and he didn't care if most of them did return, as long as his blood brother never did.

Even if he did offer returning to Asgard to Loki too, there was no way it could happen because the Yggdrasil Wish System was absolute, and he had never once override such a program and even feared the consequences, which had the possibility of throwing all nine worlds into chaos.

"Father!"

Odin lifted his head from his thoughts and stared down from his throne to the floor below, where his favorite son stood, in the shadows of anonymity for dramatic effects, but it was just bad lighting in the throne room, "What is it, Baldur?"

"Do you think it's wise to leave the situation in their hands? Especially those of Loki's?"

"Are you questioning my decision?"

"Should I?"

"Hmf, very impertinent of you."

"It's in my blood."

"Heh, you're truly my son."

"You will find no objection there, father."

"This conversation is getting no where."

"I believe so."

"What was your question again?"

"..."

* * *

So a new week on Midgard began, and each god stranded in the mortal realm now had a goal at hand, to capture all the _jaki_ once more as it was their duty to protect humanity, written in fine print in their job description that no one bothered to read when becoming a full-fledged god. It had been decided that they would split into groups to make the operation more efficient, and all linked by the brand new phones that Daidouji had bought for the 'family', which Narugami was happy to show off.

There was a bargain on five phones with a family plan, so that was what they had, giving one to Mayura, Narugami, Yamino and Freya, where the fifth one had already left with the man of the house. Because of this, the groups had been divided appropriately with a few requests here and there that Loki attempted to keep in mind - as long as it didn't affect him, he was fine with it.

Unfortunately, no one wanted to be paired up with Freyr, even his own sister. Feeling sorry for the god, Mayura was about to raise her hand to volunteer in accompanying the god - bless her heart - but Loki had caught her hand within his before anyone had noticed and gave her a warning look with a shake of his head. She frowned and sent back a bit of scolding with her eyes, and he only smiled, raising his brows in a sort of 'you don't want to be with me' look. She pouted, puffing her cheeks, returning a 'that's not what I meant' look.

He ended their silent communication with a 'then it's fine' wink, only to receive an adorable blush in response. At least that matter was fixed, and he proceeded out the door with her right behind him, along with his two sons, leaving the rest of the gods to determine their own partners.

* * *

"Thor Thor Thor! Let's go in there!"

"No! We're going in here!"

"But Freyr wants to buy Yamato Nadeshiko a gift!"

"Well I'm hungry!"

"This is more important!"

"Food is a basic necessity for survival!"

"Freyr doesn't need food! Freyr needs love! The love of Freyr's precious Yamato Nadeshiko!"

"Okay, let's solve this by... jan-ken-pon!"

"Bwee..." (My sympathies, Gulli-chan.)

* * *

"Heimdall! I must get that!"

"Freya! This is the seventh store we stopped at!"

"But the dress is so beautiful! I must have it!"

"You can just conjure up one!"

"It's not the same!"

"No one would know the difference!"

"I would!"

"I don't see-"

"It'll only be a minute!"

"That's what you said three hours ago!"

* * *

Well, those two groups had to get their priorities straight, which left Loki and the others to pull most of the weight, right? Or maybe not, when it seemed that a brunch was in order, according to Mayura and Fenrir - who could really say no to a cute girl and a cute puppy?

The pair poured over the extensive menu of the cafe, discussing among themselves to what they were going to try, while Loki and Yamino had already ordered their drinks. The group, being very oblivious to the audience around them, had attracted quite the attention every since they hit the streets of Tokyo. A pretty girl in the company of two handsome, young men on either side of her was definitely a sight not to overlook.

Loki had placed the _jaki_ container in the middle of the table, giving it a look over. They had captured three spirits after leaving the house, and he was certain that they doing quite well compared to the other groups, the accomplishment adding to his ever growing ego and confidence - one could almost see how similar he and Odin were but also how antagonistic they could be with who had the bigger ego.

"Don't worry, Loki-sama," his younger son smiled, "we'll get through this."

"I know," he grinned, "It's just very convenient that most of the _jaki_ fell in to Tokyo."

Yamino sweatdropped, "Do you think because we are here, they were attracted here too?"

"It's quite possible."

By this time, their happy waitress - who had won the jan-ken-pon game between the other waitresses - appeared to get their order, which was pretty much one-third of the brunch menu, earning surprised looks from Loki and Yamino, who had normal appetites. Even the waitress sweatdropped, wondering how these two handsome men could put up with such a gluttonous girl, but most of the dishes that were chosen belonged to Fenrir, whose appetite rivaled that of Narugami's black hole stomach.

Within minutes, their food came out one by one, and Fenrir dug right in, '_Itadakimasu_~!'

His father and brother had just barely lifted their spoonful of food, brows arching high on their foreheads, when the puppy finished one plate. He then eyed Mayura's delicious omelet coated in all sorts of veggies and meat, and the girl grinned, tearing off a piece and held the fork to Fenrir's mouth. He happily obliged, snapping his mouth quickly over the delicious morsel, 'Mmmmm, I love this!'

"Ano," Mayura stared at him thoughtfully, "I wonder who eats more: Fenrir or Narugami?"

Yamino chuckled nervously, "Let's not find out."

Fenrir eyed his little brother and barked, 'Oi Jormungand, are you tryin' to say somethin'? I can beat Mister Flashy Pants easily!'

"But, nii-san, that would mean eating us out of house and home, and it's not even our home!"

Yes, getting in to an eating debate between immortals with huge appetites wasn't quite the scene that Loki had imagine, but if it made his family happy, who could deny them the discussion.

But one couldn't quite compare the two appetites of Fenrir and Narugami, because each had different approaches on how they used their energy, which always acquired more consumption than the normal person or god. Fenrir's circumstance was quite understandable, considering that he was really a giant wolf, and on the other hand, silly Narugami always threw around his strength and powers like breathing air, which accounted for the seventy percent of his wasted energy... and probably explained why he would sleep, in his powerless state, through an earthquake.

Loki smiled, thinking how some things do make sense in the world.

"Ne Loki-sama, try this!" Mayura held her fork with a piece of her omelet on the end out to him, and he sweatdropped. She jiggled the fork a few times for his mouth to open, and he eventually complied, rather embarrassed of being fed like a child.

He chewed and smiled, "It's very good."

"Yep!" She gave him a toothy smile and then grabbed a piece of food off his plate and ate it. His mouth dropped open at her bold gesture, because she had only fed him her dish so she could sneak a bite from his - how cunning, wonder where she picked that up from. Nevermind that they even shared her fork, which she appeared to have overlooked, happily returning to her own plate.

"Hm, I guess you won't mind if I try this," he grabbed her sweet raspberry tea drink and took a sip from it, his lips over her straw.

Eyes wide, Yamino dropped his fork onto the plate, while Fenrir's mouth dropped to the table, remnants of food spluttered out, as their father had the nerve to drink the girl's tea, initiating an indirect kiss between them. Loki placed the glassware back down and met Mayura's eyes with a challenge, and she pouted, being just as competitive, and took her glass and sipped the liquid.

Several sounds of 'thud' echoed in the background, where a few women who had been watching the group fainted from the intimacy of the handsome blonde with the 'plain, unattractive' girl.

The tension never left between them, eyes still locked on one another, but Loki made the first move, taking his napkin and wiping the side of her mouth with it. She blushed and quickly took the napkin from his hand to finish wiping her own mouth, with a sweatdropping Yamino returning to his plate of food and a chewing Fenrir, mumbling something about calling the girl 'daddy's girlfriend' from now on.

* * *

When the day came to a close, and after a few phone calls or texts, everyone returned home and reported on each group's success, having gathered a total of twenty-nine _jaki_, locked in various containers the gods had. Not a bad number, considering they had just started taking the situation seriously, but it really was a small start if they knew how many _jaki_ were originally caught.

"Say," Narugami started during dinner, and they all managed not to use up their powers during the operation, not wanting to be in their alternate forms. Before he could even say another word, the house phone rang, and Mayura excused herself to answer it, leaving the god of thunder to speak again, directing it towards Freyr, "Just how many _jaki_ were in that jar?"

"Freyr doesn't know."

"It's the one that Tyr used, right?" Kazumi inquired hesitantly, having a faint idea of where this was headed.

"Freyr thinks so."

Freya's eyes enlarged, "Which means..."

"There could be..." Yamino was getting a bad habit of dropping utensils when in shock.

'Thousands of them!' Fenrir howled.

"..."

Loki was not happy.

A happy Mayura, humming, returned to the room, to find it in a scary, brooding silence. She blinked as she took her seat again, "What's wrong with everyone?"

"You don't want to know," Loki insisted and changed the topic, "Who was on the phone?"

"Papa."

Everyone released their held breaths, having prayed that it wasn't Odin again with bad news, which the girl was oblivious to as she continued to speak, "He said he won't be back till next weekend. Kanda-san is still sick, but he's doing better. There's a big ceremony at the end of the week, so papa wants to stay and help with that."

Fair enough, at least the gods wouldn't have to explain their absence from the house, nor the chaos that would soon ensue in the next few days.

* * *

**Notes:** Ugh had to write this... get my mind off my car accident. *sighs* Just put a damper on my mood today. I'm okay, my car is okay - just my baby's bumper is a bit damaged, still drivable. I'm actually working straight in to the next chapter too, so it may or may not be uploaded tonight. If not tonight, for sure tomorrow. *gives cheesy smile* Thanks! -kuro.


	21. Chapter 21

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-One.**

Sitting in class now, with only a few minutes before the school day would begin, Mayura stared at the clock with dark intentions because she was missing out on all the fun her immortal tenants were having, not that they considered _jaki_ hunting fun but it totally beats being in school. She sighed, chin propped in her hand, as she flipped through her textbook, just wishing the school day was over, so she could join Loki on the hunt.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Koutaro waving for her attention, since her mind was too busy being distracted to actually hear him call her, "Yes, Koutaro-kun?"

"You look bored," he smiled.

"I am!" she groaned and dropped her head onto her books. Both were oblivious to Koutaro's fan girls glaring at the pink-haired one as annoying and noisy as they were in the background.

The young man leaned forward and asked her, "If you'd like, we can grab a snack after school."

She sat up again, "Oh, sorry, Koutaro-kun, but I already have plans with Loki."

He lost his handsome smile and frowned, "Loki? Which one?"

She looked upwards, scratching her head, forgetting that Koutaro knew Loki as two different persons, "Um, both?"

A gloomy Koutaro turned back in his seat, staring straight ahead with a gloomy cloud over his head, "I see... a family outing, huh."

The school bell rang, and their teacher walked in, accompanied by an unfamiliar face. Mayura tilted her head to the side and stared at the girl.

She appeared shy, almost hiding behind the teacher, and avoiding all the eyes on her, but she looked cute. Her long, thick hair fell in wavy cascades around her, and her large, adorable eyes of green, reminding Mayura of a certain blonde god with green eyes too. Her round glasses would slip down the bridge of her nose, and she would constantly push it back up, while holding the books to chest.

The teacher announced their new transfer student to the class and asked that they welcome her and assist her in any way. Her voice was so soft when she spoke, trying to say her name to the class, but no one could hear her, just Mayura, who had been watching the girl, able to read her lips.

Mayura raised her hand in the air and waved with a big smile on her face, "Welcome, Hel-chan!"

Hel-chan blushed a bright red and hung her head low at the very friendly greeting from a stranger.

The teacher sweatdropped, "Ah, thank you, Daidouji, for your enthusiasm." He turned to the new student, "Why don't you take the empty seat in the back. She nodded and made her way down the aisle, walking by Mayura's desk, and the cheerful girl continued to give her a warm smile. Hel-chan turned away, still blushing, and practically stumbled to the desk, because some of the females in class were bullies!

* * *

"Hmmm..."

It was lunchtime, and Mayura looked around for Hel-chan, but she had already disappeared from the classroom. She stood up, grabbing her lunch box, and made her way out of the room. She figured the girl might have gone to the restroom first, so she stopped by there to make sure and invite her to eat together, a part of welcoming her to the school, but as she neared the destination, she heard some voices threatening someone.

She pushed the door in to the girls' restroom to find a group of her classmates cornering poor Hel-chan, whose hair was soaked and part of her blouse too, "Hey, what's going on here?"

The apparent leader turned to Mayura, "Stay out of this, Daidouji, or you're next."

"This isn't right!" she declared, "Why can't we all be friends?"

She walked right up to them, only to be shoved against the wall by another girl, who sneered at her, "Friends? With you freaks?" The girl yanked on her pink hair, "Try fittin' into normal society, and maybe we'll consider it." She let Mayura go, and their leader motioned for her comrades to follow her out of the place, leaving the apparent outcasts behind.

Mayura hurried over to the other girl, "Are you all right, Hel-chan?" She took a handkerchief from her pocket and started to wipe the girl's face dry.

"Th-Thank you," she whispered shyly, a faint blush across her cheeks.

The pink-haired girl smiled, "Let's go have lunch, ok?"

Hel-chan nodded, but a ringtone interrupted them from leaving. Mayura gave her an apologetic look before pulling out of her new mobile phone and answered it, and this gave Hel-chan the opportunity to study the girl in front of her. She couldn't deny the genuine warmth she felt from her, like a safe, protective cocoon had formed over her body, promising to never leave her alone.

Mayura pouted, "Mou, Loki-sama! ... I'm fine! ... Don't treat me like a child!"

The girl practically stomped her foot on the floor in protest, not that the caller would know, and Hel-chan giggled at the sight. Mayura looked at her and smiled, glad that the new girl was now feeling better, and then resumed fuming at the god checking up on her, "You know what, Loki-sama... You don't need to pick me up today... I'll be going out with my friend... No, it's not Koutaro-kun! And why do you keep calling him that (as in lover boy)? ... Anyway you're cutting into my lunch... Goodbye, Loki-sama."

Hel-chan smiled, "Was that... your boyfriend?"

Mayura blushed, feeling the racing heartbeat against her chest, and shook her head in attempt to also shake the strange sensation in her heart away, "Whaa, no way! He's a friend. An overbearing, motherly friend... who enjoys bullying me." She waved a hand in the air as if to forget about the whole thing, "Let's go eat! I'm so hungry!"

"Okay," came Hel-chan's soft, content reply.

* * *

"Ah Daidouji-san," Hel-chan called out, flustered at the speed her bubbly classmate walked.

Mayura stopped and turned around, nearly causing the girl to run right in to her, but Hel-chan braked in time, carrying an arm full of books, her glasses drooped down to the tip of her nose. She pushed them back up again and looked at Mayura, whose finger was waving at her in a scolding manner, "Now Hel-chan, what did I tell you to call me?"

"Ah um, Ma-Mayura-san," she blushed, adjusting her glasses again.

She sighed, "Oh I guess that will have to do!" She pulled the girl's arm along, side by side, as they left the school compound, with an afternoon snack in her mind, and what a great way to get to spend time with her new friend too. That would at least show Loki that she could live without him, like she did before they met, but the thought of his return to Asgard made her realize the inevitable, that one day he would leave her side, even if she had wished to be together forever.

It had been a selfish, childish wish, but she couldn't help but feel sad at that lingering thought.

She felt a tug of her sleeve and looked over, seeing Hel-chan staring at her with worried eyes, "Mayura-san, are you all right? You look so sad."

Mayura tried to smile, but the sorrow in her eyes were visible, "Iya, I'm fine... just thinking about the future."

"The future," she blinked and smiled, "Does it concern this... Loki-sama?"

"Eh!" she gaped at the shorter girl, "How do you know, Hel-chan?! Are you a psychic?!"

She blushed and giggled, "I just guessed." She tightened her hold on the books in her arms, pressing them against her chest, as her gaze fell to the ground, "The way you spoke to him, I felt... you two had a good connection."

Mayura's cheeks turned a similar shade of pink too as she smiled, thinking of all the memories she had made with Loki, "I hope so. He's very important to me." She then looked at Hel-chan with great determination, "So are you, Hel-chan! Starting today, you're my good friend! We'll make many memories together too!" She threw an energetic fist in to the air, "And our first memory will be delicious pastries!

"We march to paradise!" she declared, pointing ahead, and began to march down the street, oblivious to the weird looks people were giving her. Hel-chan giggled and hurried after the girl.

* * *

Loki was sprawled out on the couch that evening, after a long day of _jaki_ hunting, which earned his team another nine spirits to the container. He looked at the clock and then continued to brood, time was slipping away, and Mayura was still not home yet.

When he heard the front door open and close, he got up and went in to the hallway, only to receive a wave from Narugami and a glare from Freyr. Not the one person he was hoping to be, he returned to the couch that probably had an imprint of his body in it by now. He checked Yamino's phone in case she called or sent a message, but nothing.

Ever since the call he made that afternoon, he had been worrying and thinking about her all day, almost hurt himself in the process when a _jaki_ attacked. His sons figured they had to retire for the day if they still wanted a father around, and of course, their outing wasn't the same without Mayura - nothing like the family-like closeness they had from the day before, bringing a smile to his face.

He closed his eyes, hoping the mortal girl would hurry home, because he was not only bored, but he missed her too. He heard the front door open again, but he didn't budge this time, thinking it was probably Freya and Heimdall returning too, and he didn't need to encourage Freya in her continuous pursuit of him.

Oh, how that all changed when he heard her melodious voice echo through the house at her final return. He quickly sat up but didn't rush out to her, wanting to appear aloof... though Freyr's voice changed that, sounding hurried from upstairs, so he quickened his pace into the hallway and was able to snatch a surprised Mayura out of harm's way, letting Freyr miss his chance one more and fly straight in to the wall, right next to the old impression he made before.

"Welcome home, Mayura," Loki smiled, letting the flustered girl back down on her feet again.

"Ah, thank you." She glanced over to the dazed Freyr, "Freyr-sama, are you okay?"

"Y-Yes, Yamato Nadeshiko... Freyr is peachy..." After telling her that, he fell over with a loud thud.

"Freyr-sama!"

"Leave him be," Loki said dryly, "He could use the rest."

"Oh, how nice of you, Loki-sama," she grinned, "You're becoming a softie!"

He looked at her as if she just grew another head and pinched her cheek, "What was that?"

Fenrir ran out of the kitchen, barking, with an eager Gullinbursti right behind him, 'You're back!' He pawed her leg for attention, which she obliged to, picking her up and cuddling him in her arms. Fenrir stuck his tongue out to the fuming piglet and then turned to the girl, 'Did you bring me anything yummy?'

"Oh yes," she walked back to the door and picked up a small box, "I bought everyone dessert tonight."

"Bwee bweee?"

"Yes, even you, Gullinbursti!" she giggled.

Loki grabbed the box of pastries from her and held it at arm's length, away from her reach, as he leaned down to her face, holding her chin with his other hand, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

She furrowed her brows in confusion, searching in his eyes as if he held the answer if she looked hard enough, and even Fenrir stared at his father, wondering if the god had lost a few marbles too. She suddenly jerked back, with a surprised puppy, "AH!" She pointed at him, "You're tricking me, aren't you?!" She hurried upstairs, leaving a blinking, ever puzzled Loki to watch her disappear to the second floor, and all he wanted from her was to hear how she had missed him too.

"Bwee?"

Loki looked down at the piglet and shrugged, "Beats me."

Freyr was finally coming to again, but unfortunately, he was sitting near the front door which suddenly flung open again and smacked him unconscious once more. A pair of pissed off immortals, covered in mud, stomped in to the foyer, and Loki and Gullinbursti tried not to laugh at the two's misfortune.

Seeing the blonde god, Freya turned on the waterworks and held out her arms towards him, "Looo~kii~!"

Loki took a giant step to one side while Gullinbursti rolled away to the other, letting Freya slip by and right into Narugami, who was just exiting the kitchen, and a pile of messy immortals filled the hallway. Kazumi shook his head and hopped over them, heading upstairs to clean up.

If this was a prelude for the rest of the night, then dinner was certainly going to be interesting, because Loki was going to start it all, "So Heimdall, how did the two of you end up covered in mud?"

All faces turned to Kazumi and Freya, both pair of eyes began twitching at the memory, but neither wanted to relate the embarrassing story of chasing the _jaki_ through a zoo and in a goat pen showdown. "Hey, at least we caught seven _jaki_ today!" Kazumi boasted.

"Yes!" Freya smiled, batting her lashes in Loki's direction, "Aren't you proud, Loki?!"

"A-Ah," he just nodded, her smile seemed to glow brighter now in response, and he quickly looked away to spare his eyes from blindness.

"That's nothing!" Narugami started, shaking his chopsticks at them, "We had three attack us! Right, Freyr?" The said god just nodded, holding an ice pack to his head, while the swordsman continued, "It's a good thing we used Gullinbursti as decoy and jumped them! I wonder if _jaki_ love pork or something."

Poor Gullinbursti paled at the mention of pork, and Fenrir snickered evilly, 'I don't blame 'em! Heh, love me some pork right now!'

"Mou!" Mayura sighed, "You guys are having so much fun without me!"

Narugami swallowed a big bite of meat and told her, "It's not easy as it looks, Daidouji."

She pouted, "Why don't you try being a high school student then!"

"Does it pay well?"

She blinked, "Wait. Narugami, how much is papa paying you?"

"Uh, no idea."

"..."

Loki frowned, "Shouldn't Narugami be paying to stay here?"

She shrugged, "Are you, Loki-sama?"

"Of course, I've paid in advance for three months, to cover Yamino's and mine." No need to tell them that he had sold Odin's gold ring for a lot of yen that could last him for a few decades on Midgard - though with the way Yamino had been making mail-order purchases, it would drastically cut into the account. He smiled secretly to himself as he sipped his tea and looked at the other gods, who sweatdropped and felt guilty for freeloading now.

Great, adding to the 'to do' list, they now had to get jobs to pay their lodging fees. They all sighed, sharing one single thought: returning to Asgard was now such a far away goal.

* * *

**Notes:** There we go. Just an average chapter here, sorta explains the living expenses here, lol. Maybe I'll do another filler with the gods on their jobs and maybe their rooming situation because the Daidouji home doesn't have a gazillion rooms!

And as you can see, Hel-chan is introduced. She will start the last subplot, so not many chapters left, unless I decide to throw in some filler pieces, lol. Until next week! Have a good weekend! *smiles* -kuro.


	22. Chapter 22

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-Two.**

Somehow during the week, the group of gods managed to find jobs, but then again, these were good-looking, attractive immortals that people just gathered to, like mindless moths to the pretty light that would eventually be their electrifying doom. In this case, the simile was perfect because these gods were troublesome and could bring about the end of Midgard, or at least Tokyo, Japan.

After dropping Mayura off at her school, Loki, willingly in his child form, took Fenrir for a walk through the neighbor, and surprise, they ran in to preoccupied Narugami, who stood at the corner of a busy intersection, handing out flyers. Loki smirked at the sight of the god of thunder in a chicken suit and picked up a flyer on the pavement - a random person just threw it to the ground carelessly.

"Oi Narugami, looking good," he chuckled.

The god just rolled his eyes, "A job's a job! I'll take on as many as I can, for sensei's sake!"

Fenrir started drooling, 'Daddy, can we have chicken for lunch?'

Narugami shooed the two towards the restaurant, "Hey mention me and you get a discount!"

"Oh? Is that all?"

He rubbed the back of his chicken head embarrassingly, "Well, I get a tiny commission too."

"Sure," Loki shrugged, "I'll add you're doing such a good job that babies are crying, kids are terrified of poultry, and mothers are threatening to have you arrested for harassment..."

The laughing boy and snickering dog walked into the restaurant, leaving a frowning Narugami shaking his fists after the two, "Curse you, Loki! And your cute, li'l doggy too!"

* * *

Meanwhile not too far away, a few blocks from Narugami's corner, a panicking Kazumi flew down the street, being dragged by at least ten dogs on leashes, five within each hand. He somehow conned the neighborhood into letting him walk their dogs for a small fee, with the excuse of paying for his mother's birthday present. So touched by his adorable sweetness, they obliged, and that's how he ended up in this mess of dog walking, and for some reason, no one questioned his absence from school - maybe assuming he was home schooled.

The dogs were still in control here, dragging the poor god pass a store being renovated, and from this particular place, poor Freyr just got kicked out onto the walkway, his behind hitting pavement, followed by Gullinbursti thrown to his head and dropped into his lap.

The apparent leader in charge of the site shook an angry fist at them, "How hard is painting a damn wall?! And... PINK?!"

Freyr, covered in pink paint, hugged Gullinbursti in his arms like a lovesick fool, sighing, "Yamato Nadeshiko..."

* * *

Okay, some failures here and there, but where was Freya in all of this?

She was sitting in an office building at some lawyer firm, dressed very professionally, looking about at the folders across the desk and wondering what she was supposed to do. The phone rang somewhere beneath all the paperwork, and she figured it was her job to answer it, but finding the damn thing was difficult. She threw paper and stapler and pens and whatnot over her shoulders, digging for the phone.

Finally when she found it, she picked it up and answered, and the dial tone greeted her. Pissed, she threw the whole phone, receiver and base, into the trashcan. "Aah, someone help me!" she sighed.

And at her request for aid, men suddenly popped out of their offices and hurried to the receptionist's desk, each one wanting to help the blonde beauty.

And some goddesses have all the luck.

* * *

So did some gods- er, demi-gods, like Yamino sweeping the stone pathway in the shrine courtyard. He was enjoying the peace and quiet, in the little chores he did at the Daidouji house and shrine, and with all the gods away, he could actually bring normalcy back to the place. Next on his list of chores would be cleaning everyone's room, which was going to be a more challenging task.

He went down the list of bedrooms, from Mayura's to Daidouji's, which shouldn't be much of a hassle, and neither was Loki's and Fenrir's, sometimes Ichirou's when his brother would carelessly use up his powers. Then he thought about his own room - with a dark thunder cloud appearing over his head - the one he shared with the messy Narugami. The worse room was probably Kazumi's and Freyr's, where the latter stuffed it with his endless gift ideas for his beloved Yamato Nadeshiko, which could rival his own mail-order products hidden within a very small closet in the house - try finding that!

Yes, life on Midgard was tough, indeed, for these immortals.

* * *

Another day at school for Mayura, another day at lunch with Hel-chan, then another afternoon without Loki. Although Mayura missed being by his side, she figured it would give him some time to find more _jaki_, but she wasn't feeling lonely because spending time with Hel-chan was just as nice, something about it reminded her of the moments with Loki. She couldn't quite place her finger on it but decided to shrug it off and go find Hel-chan that afternoon.

She was supposed to meet her classmate in one of the classrooms in the elective building. She walked along the not so crowded hallways, where most students were at club or sport activities, and when the sound of music reached her ears, she was entranced the familiar melody and followed it, wanting to inquire the person of the piece's origins. She came upon the music room with the piano and watched, staring wide-eyed at a serene Hel-chan, whose fingers graced the keys like an expert pianist.

It wasn't the shock of seeing the talented Hel-chan, but Mayura finally remembered the melody, the song from her childhood, and the words came to her as if the memory had been yesterday:

_o/` Even if the tears flow and the pain still hurts, never give up your dreams._

Her voice beautifully flowed with the music, falling into perfect sync with the notes.

_o/` Forget all that's standing in our endless path, and believe in a smile._

_o/` The door of light will just be a reach away, don't ever be afraid._

The song was coming to a close, the soft notes gradually fading in to silence.

_o/` I'm so sure, I'm so sure we will be all right..._

Hel-chan smiled as her hands laid to rest upon her lap, and a sniffling Mayura wiped away the moistness from her eyes and joined her friend, smiling faintly.

"Hel-chan, you play very well! But how do you know that song?"

"Someone taught me," she looked at the girl, her smile and words were very cryptic.

"Hmm..." Mayura was in her thinking pose, gazing up at the ceiling, but she blinked and shook the thoughts away, "Nevermind, it must be a coincidence." She grabbed Hel-chan's hand and started to pull the girl out of the room, speaking energetically, "The ice cream parlor has a discount today! You get a free scoop in between four and five o'clock! So we can't-!"

Hel-chan stopped them both, her kind face suddenly turned serious and almost menacing. She ducked to the side, pulling a surprised Mayura with her, and they both landed on the floor, just as a group of music stands flew to the wall, missing their targets. A few instruments began to float in to the air and in front of them, as the girls climbed to their feet, cautious of their dangerous situation.

They slowly moved to the walls, their backs pressed against it, as they inched their way to the exit. Just a few more feet, and they could escape, but Mayura's phone went off. At the sudden noise, the spirits went wild, and the girls ran for the door, but it slammed shut right before their eyes. Hel-chan grabbed the knob, attempting to twist it open, but it wouldn't budge.

"Hel-chan!" Mayura cried, no time to answer the phone, and threw herself at the girl, just as the trumpet slammed against her shoulder. She winced at the throbbing pain, and Hel-chan helped her away before the rest of the instruments threw themselves at the students.

They ran to the windows and looked outside, from the third floor. The atmosphere of the room shifted, and Mayura, wide-eyed, saw several _jaki_ floating around the room and gasped, "Where did they all come from?!"

"Throughout the school," Hel-chan said softly, "They were probably dormant before... I believe we might have awoken them."

"Eh! Hel-chan," she stared at the girl, "Are you... a goddess?!"

Hel-chan looked at the ground, guiltily, "I-I'm sorry, Mayura-san, for keeping it from you." She started to move away, still avoiding eye contact, and introduced herself to the mortal girl, "I am... the goddess and ruler of the Underworld. Those who die come to me... They come to Hel."

When she looked up again, she had the most pained expression that Mayura had ever seen. "Hel-chan..." she whispered and ran to the goddess, throwing her arms around the lonesome figure, embracing her with all the warmth and kindness she had, "To me, Hel-chan is Hel-chan! Whether you're a goddess, or a person, or something else, we will always be friends!"

Hel-chan gasped, surprised that someone had accepted her true self without reservations, and gazed at the mortal girl in her arms with pure adoration. "Mayura-san..." she closed her eyes and returned the hug, "Thank you..."

Her eyes snapped open again when she felt the disturbance within the mass of _jaki_, closing in on them.

"Ah! Mayura-san," she breathed, "We have to get out of here!"

She secured her hold on the mortal, "Hold on, Mayura-san!"

After the last minute warning, Hel-chan shoved herself against the windows, breaking through the glass and falling out of it with Mayura tightly in her arms.

* * *

Loki, already out of breath even in his full form, pushed forward through the school gates, Yamino's phone gripped in his hand. He had felt Mayura's sudden panic and knew she was in trouble. He had tried to call her as he pursued the white thread, with Fenrir right by his side.

They heard the loud crash from the east side of campus, and even the white thread wound in that direction, then ascending higher and higher in to the skies. Loki and Fenrir stopped, eyes gaped at the dramatic scene before them, of two girls falling from the third floor windows. A flood of _jaki_ spiraled out of the windows, shattering more of the glass, creating a storm of spirits and shards over them.

The blonde god, paralyzed by the sight, felt his chest constrict, "Mayura!"

'Ah! Daddy! That's-'

A bright light engulfed the girls, still descending straight to the ground, and when it faded away, Hel-chan had sprouted magnificent wings - one was white, and the other black - from her back, saving herself and Mayura from the fall. Without a break in her movements, Hel-chan carefully shifted Mayura's body a bit to the side and lifted a container made out of bones into the air, where the many _jaki_ were falling right upon them.

"Hel awaits with Hunger..." *****

At the command of the goddess of the Underworld, the opening of the container began to suck in all the evil spirits till there were no more. When the last _jaki_ disappeared in to the prison, it automatically closed itself. She held the bottle to her side, as Mayura regain her footing on solid ground.

The mortal girl ignored the pain in her shoulder and looked at the goddess in her full form, "Hel-chan! Are you okay?!"

Hel-chan, now without her glasses, blinked.

"Speak to me! Hel-chan!" Mayura held the goddess' shoulders, worried etched all over her face, "Hel-chan!"

"Ah Mayura-san, I'm okay," she blushed shyly.

"Thank goodness!" she sighed, so relieved, and hugged a stunned Hel-chan, "I'm so glad! I was so afraid... so afraid I would lose Hel-chan..."

"Mayura-san..."

So touched by the mortal's honest feelings, Hel-chan started to cry.

"Hel... Mayura..."

The girls looked over to see Loki walking up to them, a gentle expression graced his handsome features.

"Loki-sama..."

"Father..."

Mayura blinked, "EH?! Father?!"

Loki gave them a warm, loving smile, very happy that the two important women in his life were all right. Without any more words, because actions were enough, he wrapped his arms around the two girls and pulled them against him, his heart oh-so very relieved that everything ended up fine, perfectly fine, and he could live with this.

"Mou Loki-sama!" came Mayura's muffled voice against his chest, smothered by his fancy, white shirt. She was able to pull back and stare up at him, brows furrowed in confusion, "How many kids do you have?"

"Hel is my youngest," he smiled and then looked thoughtful, giving her a squeeze, "But I wouldn't mind having more."

Hel-chan blushed at her father's insinuation, but the mortal was clueless, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Loki laughed and gave her a chaste kiss on her forehead, which made her blush since he had never been so affectionate to the point of kissing her, even if it was in a safe spot.

The other girl giggled, "Father, I approve."

"Mou Hel-chan, not you too!" Mayura pouted, pressing her cheek tenderly against the girl's own, "Don't take Loki-sama's side! Us girls have to stick together!"

'Me too, me too!' Fenrir barked, 'I want to join in!'

Mayura pulled away from the father and daughter to pick an eager Fenrir up, in to her arms, giving him a warm squeeze, and Hel-chan smiled, happy to see her older brother again, "_Ani-ue_." ******

'Hel, you look good!'

* * *

Later that evening, with everyone seated for dinner, and Loki and his children finally reunited together, but... um, Hel-chan, after using all her powers to save Mayura and herself and capturing the mass of _jaki_ was left in her powerless state, much to Loki's amusement and Mayura's confusion and worry and everyone else's mixture of reactions.

Freya's fist slammed on the table, shaking the poor furniture in to fear, and shouted, "What are you trying to do?!" While she demanded an answer from Hel-chan, her finger was pointing to a grinning Loki, relaxing in his chair with his head resting against his propped up hand, enjoying a sweatdropping Mayura in his lap, as Hel-chan moved Mayura's plate over to her new seat at the table.

"Here you go, Mayura-san!" she chirped very sweetly to the mortal girl before whipping her furious eyes to the blonde goddess. "WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!" she sneered, "For being a goddess of Asgard, you aren't very bright!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE BRAT! HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME THAT WAY!"

"Need I remind you that this brat is Hel... Ruler of the Underworld! So bring it to HEL!" she cracked her knuckles, and the evil glint of her glasses was quite disturbing as if she had become a totally different person - a more dominate and aggressive persona, unlike her usual quiet, timid self.

"GRRR, YOU ARE ASKING FOR IT!" Freya pulled out a chainsaw and sliced an empty chair in half to show that she meant business.

Hel-chan snapped a whip, from out of the blue, across the table, cutting that in half too, and the plates and food slid down the slope and in to a messy pile on the floor, "BRING IT ON, BITCH!"

Everyone, especially her two brothers, sweatdropped.

"Ano Loki-sama," Mayura whispered, worriedly, "Will Hel-chan be okay?"

"Of course," he smiled, very entertained with tonight's dinner, "Seeing my quiet Hel like this... is very refreshing."

* * *

* _Hunger_ is the name of a dish that belongs to the goddess Hel - information from wikipedia site - but I made it in to a _jaki_ container instead, lol.

** A very formal and archaic way of saying "older brother," which I imagined Hel-chan would use because of her sweet, kind, polite personality, her love of books and knowledge too.

* * *

**Notes:** Okay, I guess I lied about no more updates till next week. The mood just hit to keep on writing! I'm actually happy how this chapter turned out, at least the second half of it, dealing with Hel-chan. Besides Mayura being my favorite, I love Hel-chan too! I wish there was more of her in the series. Lol, and I always seem to refer her to as Hel-chan in my stories.

And if you can't tell, Hel-chan's powerless state is a more dominate and aggressive personality, a complete opposite of her normal, shy self. I thought it would be so funny to have a dual personality, lol. She quietly supports Mayura and her father together in her normal self, but she'll push it farther in her crazy powerless state and butt heads with Freya. Hope you guys enjoy that, rofl!

Oh, the lyrics from the song will appear again in its fullness later, and I'll give you proper information on it then. Just a glimpse of it for now. *grins* -kuro.


	23. Chapter 23

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-Three.**

"Oi, what are you bitches lookin' at!"

Hel-chan glared at the group of girls standing outside of the classroom giving her and Mayura disgusting looks as the two girls walked by, "You got somethin' to say!" She narrowed her eyes at them, and they shrunk back by the new girl's promising threat of hurt, avoiding all eye contact.

Mayura, sweatdropped, gave her friend's arm a few tugs and pulled her along into the room with her, figuring last night's confrontation didn't need to be repeated. She recalled Hel-chan's whip had snatched the chainsaw from Freya's grip and tossed it to the wall, after giving poor Freyr a fright as it flew over his head, and Yamino tried to calm his sister down, while a relentless goddess snapped her fingers for a ton of pots and pans to rain overhead. Poor Yamino was hit with a few, and Hel-chan had grabbed both Narugami and Freyr, both with her whip, to shield herself from getting hurt, and afterwards, threw them at Freya, creating a pile of semi-conscious immortals.

The girl could almost hear Hel-chan's 'ohohohoho~' laughter echoing triumphantly in the back of her mind, as she sat down at her desk, and Hel-chan taking the seat next to her, which was normally Koutaro's desk. She sweatdropped when Koutaro entered the classroom and walked over to the girls. He smiled nervously, finding Mayura's new friend in his chair, and Hel-chan smirked at the young casanova.

"I hope you don't mind, Kakinouchi," Hel-chan crossed her legs, leaning back against the chair, twirling the curls of her hair around her finger, "Mayu-chan is being such a sweetheart and making me comfortable here."

"A-Ah, I see," he gave his favorite classmate a dashing smile that Hel-chan did not approve of, "I expect nothing less of Daidouji-san." He then faced Hel-chan, "Please feel at ease, Yamino-san. And don't hesitate to ask me either."

"Hm, I appreciate the kind gesture," she leaned across the space between the desks over to a blinking Mayura and hugged her, "But Mayu-chan is all I need!

The girl blushed, "H-Hel-chan."

It wasn't that she felt odd from Hel-chan's public affections towards her, but her words and actions reminded her so much of a certain god of playfulness and teasing, and that was the same thought that crossed Koutaro's mind too, thinking that she seemed possessive just as the so called strange Jashin Loki and Chibi-Loki. He noticed the smug grin on Hel-chan's face, directed at him too, and sweatdropped, wondering if these people were all related - so many obstacles for Mayura's affections.

* * *

Loki, with his two sons, stopped by a cafe for lunch, after capturing five _jaki_ that morning without breaking a sweat, drawing attention to the two handsome men and their cute puppy. Of course, Loki and Fenrir were oblivious of all the ogling eyes on them, while Yamino sweatdropped, still not used to all the attention on Midgard, and wished he had stayed home, but his father had insisted that he get out of the house for a bit.

Not only that, but Loki sometimes needed help working the cell phone. Sure he could make calls and receive them just fine, but every thing else was so bizarre, from browsing what mortals called the internet to taking pictures and sending messages to other people... and then sending taken pictures to other people!

He tried taking a self portrait but nearly blinded himself with the flash, earning him spirally eyes instead, and a sweatdropping Yamino wondered how he even turned on the flash in the first place when it wasn't even needed. With a patient sigh, he poured his father a cup of warm tea to get his bearings together, as Fenrir dived right in to the sandwich, with a cute wagging tail.

Sipping his tea, Loki, still holding on to the phone that belonged to Yamino, who felt that the blonde god had used it more than he ever did, fumbled clumsily with the buttons. His brows were knitting together at a point in frustration, "Yamino, how do I type a message?"

"Um," the young man leaned over and pointed to a few buttons, "who are you sending it to?"

"Mayura."

Why did Yamino even bother to ask, because if he bothered to scroll through the log, he would've found Mayura to be on the receiving end of all the majority of the past calls and contacts, when it came to his father using the phone.

"Ah, then you bring this up, Loki-sama, and..."

* * *

Mayura always had a bad feeling when gods and mobile phones met and interacted, but she never knew how terrible it was till that afternoon, trying to make it through her classes. At least she was wide awake, because her biology teacher had such a very loud and annoying voice that emphasized every other word he spoke and his hand gestures were wild as he demonstrated the whole process of photosynthesis as a one-man show.

It was during this performance that Mayura nearly jumped out of her seat at the send vibration from her skirt pocket, because it was just her phone. Hel-chan grinned, when she saw her neighboring classmate and friend dug her hand into her pocket to get the phone out, knowing very well who had the nerve to contact the girl at this time.

"Daidouji," the teacher had stopped flailing to stare at the girl, "Is something wrong?"

"N-No, sensei..."

Hel-chan raised her hand, "Sensei, your demonstration of the light reaction was impeccable and would deserve a theatrical award, but could you explain the actual equation as it relates to the process?"

Forgetting all about Mayura, he was happy to oblige the more important matter of learning, "Why, of course, Yamino-san!" He proceeded to re-perform his explanation, earning several groans from the class, along with the usage of the white board, but Mayura, very grateful for the save, gave Hel-chan a sweet smile. Hel-chan returned it and pointed to the phone, indicating that she should check it.

Mayura nodded and opened her phone. There was a message from Loki, and she wondered if something happened. Worried, she opened the message, and her expression fell while Hel-chan sweatdropped when she saw Mayura's flat stare at the phone.

His short text message: _'Mayu im bored.'_

Pouting, she typed her reply back: _'I hope u kno im in class.'_

_'Lets play a game.'_

_'No. Arent u hunting jaki?'_

_'If u win i will treat u to ice cream. If i win u do something for me.'_

Mayura stared at the phone as if to burn a hole through it, but her mind was debating whether to play the game to get the ice cream reward or not. Loki was a very sneaky god, and to do something for him was probably going to be embarrassing and humiliating. "But the ice cream," she muttered to herself, cursing her weakness for sweets, which the god knew of and had planned to take full advantage of.

_'Whats the game?'_

_'Let me guess what ur wearing today. Under ur uniform.'_

It didn't take a genius to know what he was implying, and she nearly choked on the air she was breathing and quickly typed: _'NO.'_

_'R u afraid I will win? ;-D'_

She couldn't believe they were carrying on this conversation over the phone - when did he learn to type in emoticons?! He was seriously playing this game with her, but what was his intention anyway, besides boredom. He was already goading her in to it, and she refused to let that sexy smirk of his to be her downfall, _'U r so on! I want the pricest ice cream there is!'_

_'If u win. ;-9'_

Ugh, his emoticons were annoying her for some reason. She typed in the next message, with such a determined expression that even Hel-chan was impressed and ever curious as what was transpiring between the mortal and her father, because who else could elicit such various expressions from her, which she had to chuckle to, secretly behind her hand.

_'U only get 3 tries.'_

* * *

Meanwhile, a very happy Loki had forgotten about his lunch and found the phone a better distraction, especially when a certain mortal girl was at the other end. Yamino and Fenrir exchanged bewildered glances and wondered if they should get their father's attention but feared it would disrupt the peace and harmony if they interrupted his amused entertainment.

Loki was enjoying the mortal's invention of text messaging, and when he received her last text, his smile twitched in to a mischievous smirk, which his sons sweatdropped to. "How cheeky of you, Mayura," he chuckled, looking rather dark and evil.

He typed back: _'I only need 1.'_

* * *

"What?!"

Mayura's voice interrupted their sweatdropping teacher, who turned around, "Daidouji?"

"Err, sorry, sensei," she rubbed her head sheepishly, "I-I just realized I had a mistake in my notes, haha..."

"Is that all?" he sighed and continued to teach the bored class while the troubled student returned to her focus to the phone, secretly punching away at the buttons under her desk.

_'Ur going to regret this.'_

_'More like enjoy this.'_

_'Hmf, guess away then!'_

After a minute passed, Mayura felt the start of celebration dancing in her chest, and as that minute turned into five, she wondered if Loki was still there and okay, because the sudden thought of a _jaki_ attacking him worried her, and the game was thrown into the back of her mind. She was about to type again, to inquire about his safety, when a message was received:

_'The pink lace with purple butterflies.'_

And she nearly dropped her phone.

_'With matching bra too. ;-D'_

Damn the emoticon! It was like he was smirking at his triumph, and how the hell did he know what she was wearing! It wasn't like he did the laundry, which Yamino always did, but no one was allowed to touch her unmentionables, so how did he know?!

He had to have cheated, because there was no way... Oh wait, he was a god. Loki totally didn't deduce it from the ten pairs of matching undergarment sets, where Yamino had yet to do the week's worth of laundry, and rotating through each in a certain order, and always wearing her favorite pair at the end of the school week, on a Friday... nor needed to go through her dresser while she was at school... nor got a glimpse of panties when the girl clumsily tripped over own foot out the front door.

Mayura mentally kicked herself for being conned into a game against a god, a very flirtatious and lecherous god.

* * *

"Nii-san," Yamino started, later that afternoon, poking his head out from the corner of a mailbox, while Fenrir was right below him, keeping his eyes ahead, "should we really be following Loki-sama like this? He told us to go on home..."

Fenrir rolled his eyes, 'It's not safe for daddy to walk about alone! What if he runs into a bunch of _jaki_ he can't handle?!'

"I know that... but... Loki-sama told us-"

'Yeah yeah! He sure did... but he didn't say anything about not following him.'

Yamino could almost see the arrogant smirk on his brother's face.

'Ah! He's heading to the mall! Look at all those girls fawning over him! That's my daddy!' he barked proudly and hurried closer, with an exasperated Yamino right behind him.

* * *

Loki sat down on the edge of the water fountain and waited for his date to arrive, ignoring all the love-struck stares thrown his way. He was busy in his thoughts, wearing a big smile on his face as he recalled his triumph. He had purposely made her wait a few minutes before giving her the answer that would secure the winning request from her. Sure, he didn't quite play fair, but there weren't any rules set, and of course, he always hated to lose.

"E-Excuse me," came a nervous voice, and he looked up.

A pretty woman with some of her friends were standing in front of him, blushing a beet red. He smiled politely, "Hello, ladies. How can I help you?"

Some swooned, some sighed, all wishing they could be held in the arms of this beautiful, sexy man. "W-We couldn't h-help notice that y-you were a-alone..."

He knew he had such an effect on women, but seriously, the stuttering needed to stop, and giving them a faux pleasant smile, he spoke, "Actually I won't be alone much longer. I'm waiting for someone, someone very special."

Even after he said that, the women found him even more irresistible, like the whole attraction to those who were already taken or those who were badass and sexy or those who were just dropped dead sexy and gorgeous to the point where the situation didn't matter, just jump the guy...

"Oh oh, we're s-sorry to b-bother you..." He wasn't paying attention at this point, his eyes focused on the entrance ahead, so the woman's voice was lost to him, "W-We'll just go ov-ver here... and w-watch..." (Great, stalkers.)

He glanced up at the clock on the nearby building and looked over to the entrance, expecting her bubbly pink hair to bounce through the place soon.

Yes, fifteen minutes later, he, and the many stalkers, saw the pink-haired girl, but she wasn't quite bouncing through the entrance and she wasn't quite alone, seeing that it was his daughter that was pushing the mortal forward, with much enthusiasm and courage. He stood up as they approached him - was hard not to miss the handsome man that every female in the vicinity had their eyes on.

"_Oyaji_!" Hel-chan grinned, a hand on her hip, as she presented Mayura to him, "I've brought your date!" *****

Loki sweatdropped, "Ah, thank you, Hel."

Before Hel-chan could scurry off to find a hiding spot and then stalk her father and friend, Mayura grabbed her arm and spoke to an amused god, "Loki-sama may have asked for this date, but you didn't say I couldn't bring someone along too!" She stuck her tongue out at him, childishly, and dragged a stunned, blinking Hel-chan to the mall doors.

Loki grinned, hands in his pockets, as he watched the girls, "That's true..." He gazed up to the skies and laughed, "I guess this is retribution." He then sighed and turned to the moving trashcan next to him, "All right, you two. Stop hiding and come along."

The trashcan tipped over, and a sheepish Yamino, squatting on the ground, rubbed the back of his head, embarrassingly, while his brother without any shame trotted up next to Loki, 'Daddy, I was just helping Jormungand... find his... uh, glasses... Yeah, not stalking you at all... 'Cause you know how clumsy he is.'

Yamino stood up and glared at his lying, attempting to be cute, older brother. With a heavy sigh, he just followed his father and brother and sweatdropped at the group of women stalking after them.

* * *

***** _Oyaji_ is an informal way of saying "dad," but since Hel-chan was still her dominate self, her speech also changed into a more crude, informal, thug-like manner, lol - think _yakuza_ Hel-chan!

* * *

**Notes:** Okay, another filler chapter that will go into the next one too. I figured I had to do something with the mobile phones, lol. More bonding time in next chapter! And maybe some action!

Along with this new chapter, you get a picture of Mayura & Hel-chan! I spent a few hours sketching it on paper and then coloring it in PaintShopPro - the latter I haven't done in a while. I got so excited, being inspired from the last few chapters, lol. I'm thinking of doing one of Mayura and all the gods in chibi form, the dinner scene from chapter 22 would be hilarious, but we'll see... lol, it's a much bigger effort on my part, so don't hold your breath.

You can type in: kurosu dot deviantart dot com slash art slash Mayura-and-Hel-chan-color-387195061 - replacing the dot with actual "period" and slash with actual "slash". -kuro.


	24. Chapter 24

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-Four.**

Cue a montage of Mayura and her makeshift family spending some quality time together, doing some walking here and there throughout the mall, which Loki didn't seem to mind anymore, seeing his children enjoying it as much as he did in the company of one mortal girl.

"Ne Yamino-san!" Mayura called, pointing to what appeared to be a super-ultra-deluxe vacuum cleaner in the window display of an appliance store, "look at this!"

The demi-god pressed his face against the window, trembling with excitement, his heavy breathing fogged up the area of glass in front of him in an almost creepy way, as he gazed at the most beautiful piece of technology in existence. Mayura started to read the description of the equipment, "Oh! It's the new upgraded version. It'll even clean kitchen messes!"

At that lovely piece of information, the two shared a look of wonder between them and then glanced over to Fenrir, who was trying to get Loki to take him over to the cotton candy and snacks stand, but it was Hel-chan who picked him up, puffing some air out in annoyance, to get her bangs out of her face, "Geez _aniki_, will you chill for a second. Let's wait for Mayu-chan and Jormu-ani!" *****

Loki smiled in agreement, "We have all day, Fenrir."

Yamino said excitedly, "Mayura-san, let me go place an order! I'll be right back."

He hurried away, while Mayura returned to the others, in time to hear Hel-chan suddenly gasp and blush. She raised a curious brow, "What's wrong, Hel-chan?"

"Aah..." She shrunk back, hanging her head so low that her shallow breaths brushed over Fenrir's fur. Loki stared at his daughter with such a soft and gentle expression that the nearby stalkers fainted to the ground, because he knew that Hel-chan had returned to normal.

Mayura bent over to the flustered girl, examining the rapid change of coloration of her skin, and placed a hand on her forehead, "You're very warm, Hel-chan! Are you all right?"

"Aah, Mayura-san!" her head snapped up, and her face flushed completely red, "I-I'm okay!" She squeezed her brother a bit too tightly in her arms, causing him to yelp in surprise, "I'm so sorry! I've... I've been such an embarrassment!" She couldn't believe what she did in the past twenty-four hours in her powerless state, which wasn't that powerless after all, considering how rough and tough she was with everyone.

And to think how aggressive she had become when it came to Mayura and her father, attempting to push them together, she wanted to shrivel up back to the Underworld... Well, not really because she was having a wonderful time with her family, even if she were to almost die of embarrassment! Hell... Hel - she was the goddess and ruler of the Underworld!

Hel-chan suddenly gasped and found herself being hugged by Mayura, and the girl said to her, "Good... I'm glad Hel-chan is all right." Mayura seemed to have figured out that Hel-chan had returned to normal, "Whether Hel-chan is quiet and shy or yelling and being cool, kicking butt and taking names, I still like Hel-chan! All of Hel-chan!" She pulled back and gave her a sweet smile, "So just smile and have fun!"

The bashful goddess nodded and smiled, all the while still flushed from all the warm feelings in her chest. Fenrir, after getting the air squeezed out of him, was happy to have his sister back too, even if he did like the more aggressive side kicking Freya's ass, and grinned, 'Now, Hel, why don't you get your awesome, big brother some snacks!'

"Yes, ani-ue!" she almost saluted to her brother's command.

Fenrir lifted his head proudly as his sister willingly brought him over to the snack stand, pleased that, being the oldest child, he was able to boss around his younger siblings so easily. Despite his current size and level of cuteness, he was still the older, badass one.

Mayura couldn't help but smile at the cute scene, but right after that, she felt the sudden weight of another person and said person's arms wrapped around her shoulders. His head rested on her right shoulder, and she pouted after giving him a glance, "Mou, Loki-sama, Fenrir really takes after you."

"How cute and charming he is?" he chuckled, his warm breath burned her ear, and she shuddered at their closeness.

She puffed her cheeks out, "No, he somehow gets his way."

Loki laughed and pressed his lips to her temple, and she blushed, feeling her heartbeat quickening, and found the floor rather interesting at this point, "Ne Loki-sama..."

"Hm?"

He found her shyness very charming and cute, a breath of fresh air from all the extremes - from Freya's aggressive, clingy pursuit to the many female mortals' distant stalking as if he was a celebrity they could only worship from afar - but this was who Mayura was, an honest and pure girl who was a bit clumsy and slow at times but ever observant and understanding when it came to one's feelings, though being mortal could bring some insecurities.

"Are you... happy?" she peered over to him, almost twisting herself in his embrace so she could see his eyes fully, searching for the truth in his enchanting, emerald orbs that had playfully captured her interest since their first encounter.

They had come such a long way from being mere strangers to something a little more than friends, but she knew Loki was important to her. So being someone in her heart, she wanted to make sure that he was happy with the life on Midgard, even if the haunting thought of him one day returning to his home world still lingered in the back of her mind. She never dwelled on the past nor wanted to think of a future that could change because living in the moment was the best feeling one could ever ask for.

"You silly girl," he chuckled, "Can't you tell by looking?"

She stared at him for a moment, having already found her answer before she even asked the question, and smiled, her eyes twinkling with joy and her sweet feelings for him. Her gaze was so beautiful, so ethereal - nothing he had ever seen before, not even the goddesses of Asgard possessed such a lovely soul - that he couldn't help himself, taking her face within his hands. He leaned down to her flawless, heart-shaped face with a captivated expression - mesmerizing, crimson eyes wide and inviting, pink lips parted in awe.

'Ah Hel! My chocolate-coconut candies!' Fenrir whined, followed by a loud crash of some heavy bags that came from a blushing Yamino, who finally rejoined his family after making a few purchases from the appliance store. He was stunned by the public display of affection - that no one dare questioned nor looked in disgust because it was squealingly cute and and sweet - to the point that he had accidentally dropped the bags. Yamino's bad habit of dropping things when in shock was evidently genetic since a completely red Hel-chan also dropped Fenrir's candies, and luckily, it was not the dog himself.

Unfortunately, Mayura had turned her face in Fenrir's and Hel-chan's direction, so Loki's lips ended up on her cheek instead.

"Ani-ue," she cried, thinking how her brother had such bad timing, ruining their father's precious moment that almost had her going in to her secret giddy fangirl mode.

'But, but my candies!'

Yamino and Hel-chan sweatdropped at their eldest brother's childish complaints.

While Mayura could hear Loki's groan of disappointment, her focus returned to him as his head dropped on her shoulder, leaning into the crook of her neck, his breath still warm upon hers, and she drew in a sharp breath at their intimacy. He smiled, taking in her intoxicating fragrance, his lips so close to her fair skin that he could just run his tongue over it, but he settled for a feathery kiss instead.

With a sigh, Loki finally lifted himself from her and stared at her blushing form, like a wide-eyed deer caught in headlights, as she held a hand to her neck, the spot where he had dared to kiss her so intimately, pushing the boundaries of their once platonic relationship.

Not sure what to say or how to respond, Mayura ducked her eyes away from him, still rubbing the warm spot on her neck, and hurried over to Hel-chan and her brothers. She felt a satisfied, smirking Loki falling right behind her footsteps as they approached his kids. She busied herself with reprimanding Fenrir about his sweet tooth as she took him into her arms, and the puppy barked at her, 'No! Even if you're daddy's girlfriend, you can't stop me!'

After a brief silence, Mayura pouted, "That's not funny, Fenrir."

The puppy tilted his head curiously at her while Loki laughed, tugging one of her cheeks, annoying her even further, "Kids are honest, aren't they?"

Yamino coughed in an attempt to hide his grin while Hel-chan shyly smiled, looking elsewhere, as she assisted her second brother with carrying his purchases.

* * *

In the distance, several more women fainted that afternoon, and one could hear the sounds of several emergency medic response units, in the background chaos, arriving at the mall. Hel-chan noticed the large crowds off to the side that had gathered around the unconscious women and tugged on Yamino's sleeve and pointed to the scene. Yamino sweatdropped at the familiar stalking women and shook his head, pressing his free hand at the small of his sister's back and guiding her after the others, who were completely oblivious to all that was around them.

With the family reunited, they continued forward with many other places in mind, enjoying their time together and ignoring everything around them...

Even oblivously walking by a busy Freyr, who was walking around with a bunch of flowers in his arms that covered his vision, so he was pretty much walking around blindly, trying to deliver said flowers, because he somehow managed to get a florist delivery boy gig - who in their right mind would hire this handsome, clumsy, nut job? Probably the sympathetic grandmother who owned the floral shop.

The ever faithful Gullinbursti was right by his master's side, directing the young man on where to walk, but the rain of loose petals and leaves was a sign of bad things to come. A leaf drifted down to the piglet's head, on to his snout, and he blessed the mall with a very loud sneeze, that grabbed everyone's attention and knocked him into Freyr's foot. The domino effect ended with the god falling down and the twenty-something bouquets flew straight in to the air and right down on them.

The mall janitorial crew, who had witness the incident, sighed and went to grab the cart to clean up the huge mess, but the day was far from over, and future chaos was set to send them resigning from their jobs soon.

* * *

The group of five were heading up the escalator to the third floor, but if one paid close attention to two floors below, where another interesting group of people were now the new focus of spectators. A mass of young, handsome men, who were mostly coworkers, surrounded a certain blonde-haired goddess, vying for her affections, but said goddess was just baiting them along and basking in all the attention she was receiving.

It almost reminded her of Asgard, though the many gods that courted her there would fall into a competition on who could conjure up the best gift in all of the Nine Worlds for her. Whichever gift she chose, that god would be the winner and marry the (in)famous goddess, though she accepted all of their lovely presents, continuously stringing them all along.

Who said she couldn't do the same in Midgard, but every time she looked in to her crowd of admirers, she always hoped to pick out a certain blonde god among them, but alas, he was not there. Curse that Loki, the one being in all the Nine Worlds that she could not seduce.

But she wouldn't allow that single oddity to ruin her day of adoration by others. Yes, she still had her many, many endless fish in the sea, who were willing to worship the dirt road she walked upon and the puppy crap that her heel stepped in...

* * *

Moving on, if one were to look further below the first floor, down to the next basement level of the food court, one could see a peculiar, giant cow roaming about, handing out free samples to the passersby. For those who just wanted to enjoy the afternoon with their significant other, it was quite difficult because of the very persistent cow, whose goal was to deliver the tasty cube of meat on a toothpick to every single customer in the area.

Yes, Narugami, with his new part-time job, did not take no for an answer, and all those who did, not only faced the wrathy smile of the god of thunder but was chased down by a crazy, smiling god in a big, fluffy cow suit, who, over a mere four hours, happened to have grown a fanclub whose adoration was of a cow costume donning, _bokken_-wielding bishounen.

He stuffed a hand full of meaty cubes into his mouth and threw the rest at the fanatic girls, in an attempt to escape, which he was amazingly able to do so even in the cow costume that would hinder a lot of people, but he was a god. A cow costume wearing god hopped over several tables, with the agility and grace of a gazelle, muttering, "I need a new job..."

Narugami ran by a content Kazumi, with Gjallar the falcon perched on his shoulder, eating _takoyaki_ as a snack. The gust of air almost blew the two right in to the fountain, but the kid's flailing arms did not help and went kerplunk into the water. Gjallar flew out of a wet harm's way, leaving a very annoyed and not dry Kazumi to curse his terrible luck. He couldn't even get a peaceful afternoon to himself without trouble, but it was expected when the gods gathered in one place.

Thankfully, the corporation that owned the mall had very good insurance on it.

* * *

"Ah!" came Mayura's happy surprise. She smiled, delighted at her discovery, and tugged on Hel-chan's arm, for her to come along. The girls walked over to one of those popular _purikura_ photo booths that were scattered across the mall, with cutesy advertisement of the small contraption plaster all over the outer shell to entice these types of young female customers to fall prey to the almighty existence of modern day consumerism. ******

Loki and Yamino followed them, while Fenrir, still in Mayura's arms, sniffed at the booth suspiciously, 'Is this some mortal trap?'

"Silly Fenrir," the mortal giggled, "You get your pictures taken here." She lifted the small curtain, allowing a peek into the booth with a cleared area for a few people to stand and a large screen on the opposite side, "See, this is where you enter and pose for the camera.

"Let's get ours taken, Hel-chan!" she insisted with a big smile and pulled the hesitant Hel-chan into the booth, leaving the men to exchange curious glances.

Mayura inserted the required amount of coins and pressed a few selections on the screen. A few cute poses here and there with the two, and even Fenrir was getting in on the action, first appearing confused and then proudly puffed his chest out for a tougher look.

Suddenly, an inquisitive Loki poked his head inside and surprised the girls, earning a more hilarious snapshot of Mayura pouting in his direction while he grinned down at her. He fully entered the booth, making himself comfortable right behind the girls, making that the fourth snapshot. Hel-chan then called for Yamino to join them, and the young man poked his head inside and was dragged in the rest of the way by an ecstatic Mayura, "Okay, everyone smile!"

Right after the fifth one of everyone posing normally and smiling beautifully, Loki surprised all of them by mischievously grabbing Mayura's cheeks from behind and pulling them in opposite directions with her frowning in protest, and the others laughed. A few more snapshots captured Mayura lecturing a naughty Loki, who continued to smirk at the girl, while Hel-chan and Yamino just sweatdropped and Fenrir's eyes stared at one of the cameras suspiciously, wondering aloud if their souls would be taken. Hel-chan explained that it was not true, just being a myth from olden times.

Seeing that her words had no effect on him but maybe actions would, Mayura, blushed at remembering what happened between them moments ago, decided that this was the best time to get revenge. She smiled and leaned up to Loki, whose brows rose high, and gave him a soft peck on the cheek. Hel-chan flushed a faint red while Yamino, just as flustered as his sister, looked away with embarrassment, and Fenrir was too busy glaring down the camera.

And that snapshot ended their photo session.

* * *

***** _Aniki_ is an informal way of saying "older brother," used a lot among yakuza member towards a senior or older member as respect. _Ani_ also means "older brother."

****** _Purikura_ is short for _purinto kurabu_ meaning "print club," which are those photo booths in Japan that takes cute photos and prints them out on sticker sheets, lol.

* * *

**Notes:** Omg, I think I'm dying from overload of cuteness, lol. I honestly didn't think the MayuLoki scenes would take up most of the chapter. I had planned some mall action, but I guess that's shifting into the next one. Oh, but I did enjoy the photo booth session! I just thought it was so cute! It was the highlight of the chapter for me, lol.

And I just love writing Hel-chan! She's so adorable, and then she kicks ass as a sadist, lol. Okay, I'm weird... Thanks! -kuro.


	25. Chapter 25

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

"Hoshi no Lullaby" ("Lullaby of the Stars") is from the anime _Yoroiden Samurai Troopers_, I think from the Message OAVs. I altered the English translation so it would fit with the music, so you can sorta sing along with it. It's a beautiful song, one of my favorite pieces. You can easily find the song on the youtube site.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-Five.**

Their shopping trip continued, after their photo booth fun, which earned them a few sheets of printed out photo, and Mayura had all the images sent to her phone, and to Yamino's at Loki's insistence, to further treasure the memories together. She was admiring them her phone as they walked, smiling and finally blushing at her gutsy move in the final shot of her initiating a kiss with Loki, even if it was a more friendly one, but she couldn't deny the rush of warmth in her chest nor the rapid beat of her heart.

Smiling to herself, she made the fifth image of everyone smiling as her background and laughed aloud, "Too bad the others aren't here. We could get a picture of all of us, together."

Loki snorted, "No thank you. I'd rather not be in the same shot as Heimdall and Freyr."

Mayura rolled her eyes, noting that he didn't mention Freya, "Oh? So we should invite Freya-sama next time?"

He didn't miss the hint of jealousy in her voice and smiled, rather arrogantly, taking her free hand within his, "I don't mind, if I get to see all of Mayura's emotions for me."

"Ah, I don't know... what emotions?" she turned her head the other way, hiding her pink cheeks, but she allowed her hand to remain within his warm one. She looked at the girl next to her, "Hel-chan, I don't know how you put up with Loki-sama."

"It's never boring?" she blushed when her eyes met with her father's amused ones, ducking her head with a giggle.

"That's so true!" Mayura nodded.

'Daddy's the best!' Fenrir barked, and everyone sweatdropped, knowing how much of a daddy's boy the puppy was - practically a fact across the Nine Worlds these days.

The mortal nodded, "And I know Yamino-san is on Loki-sama's side."

The young man blushed with embarrassment at how true the statement was, but he also liked Mayura, so it would be a difficult choice if he was thrown in the middle of a fight between the two.

"Because I'm that lovable," Loki smirked.

It wasn't like she was going to deny the truth of the statement, but she just didn't have any witty comeback against the cunning god, and even if she did, the disruption from the few floors below them wouldn't allow her to voice it.

Yes, this trip had been too perfect to continue as so, and some action was needed as a break from all the sweetness that would give one tooth decay. They all hurried to the ledge and leaned over the railing, trying to search for the source of all the desperate screaming, which appeared to becoming from below, far below the floors they had been on.

"I don't see any idols," Mayura mused, eyes scanning the masses of tiny persons.

How could she mix up the screams of horror and shock with the high-pitched squeals of fangirls at the sight of their favorite idol? Really, anyone could make that mistake, but the throngs of people flooding towards the many exits around the mall indicated the former.

"The _jaki_," Hel-chan murmured, "Our presence here must have disturbed them."

Just as she said that, they heard screaming come from above too, and when they looked up, they could see people fleeing to the nearest elevators or escalators, followed by all sorts of objects, possessed by the spirits, spiralling down the center of the mall.

"There are too many people around," Yamino said worriedly.

The gods couldn't take action without their identities being compromised, and as they arrived to the ground floor where the majority of the chaos began because they could see four particular immortals at the center of all the _jaki_ mess. Freya was batting them away with a frying pan, and her brother and Narugami were smacking the _jaki_ with a magical wand and a wooden sword, respectively. Poor Gullinbursti and Gjallar were being pursued roughly by the spirits, leaving a very pissed off Kazumi about to unleashed his powers without a care for the safety of mortals around them.

While most people were fleeing the dangers, there were others who remained behind, because they loved the live action or were just plain idiots without a care for their lives.

'Daddy, we have to do something.'

"I know," Loki frowned. He had to do something, and without any other alternatives and from the way Kazumi's patience was about to explode, he might as well jump in with the magic. But before he did that, he had his number one worry in the form of a mortal girl, "You have to get out of here, Mayura."

"But, I want to help all of you!"

Fenrir jumped out of her arms, 'You can't do anything here! You'll just distract us!'

What he said was true, but there had to be something she could do, and it was Hel-chan who knew what it was. "Father, don't worry about us," she started, "I'll take care of Mayura-san." The goddess pulled her friend in one direction, allowing her father and her brothers to take care of the evil spirits.

"Hel-chan, where are we going?"

"Remember when you sang in the music room?" she asked, running straight by a music store, and straight to the mall's help center which was situated near the front of the main entrance.

"Yes..."

They reached the central hub, where a man was hiding underneath the counter and speaking into the system that reached all corners of the mall, telling everyone to exit the building in a calmly manner - as if that worked. Hel-chan apologized ever so politely, with a deep bow, and grabbed the microphone from him, turning to a confused Mayura.

"Mayura-san," she placed the microphone into the hands of the blinking girl. This was a chance to confirm her suspicions about the girl's abilities, if she was capable to possess other worldly powers that she had a glimpse of in the music room. She didn't want to have high expectations, for fear of getting her heart broken, but she had already believed the moment they met, "Please sing a lullaby."

"Huh?"

She kept her hands over Mayura's own, for support and for the faith she had placed in her, and looked down shyly at them, "It will put everyone here to sleep."

Her eyes widened, the crimson shimmered in wonderment, "Whaa... I can do that?"

"With my help, you will." Hel-chan smiled softly, "Your voice will reach the depths of their hearts." Mayura seemed uncertain but ever curious, and the goddess continued, "You have reached mine, Mayura-san."

"Hel-chan..."

With her friend's encouraging smile, she nodded and closed her eyes, bringing the microphone that they both held closer to her mouth, as she picked out a calm, melancholy piece from her memories. Even without the accompaniment of music, she could hear the melody in her heart and began to hum it. Hel-chan, smiling, closed her eyes too and began to whisper some words in an unknown language, summoning her powers and intertwining it with Mayura's voice...

_o/` Softly, I gaze._

_o/` Stars of the skies_

_o/` Around the bright, golden moon._

Everyone appeared to have stopped running or whatever they were doing and strained to hear the soft voice streaming from overhead, even capturing the attention of the gods.

_o/` Battles of old, tiring my soul._

_o/` Closing my eyes, the tears fall._

Loki looked up, having recognized the beautiful voice, soft and gentle, dancing straight in to the chaos, and smiled, because he believed that if anyone could calm the storm, it was that particular mortal girl, "Mayura..."

_o/` Happiness had once filled those faraway days._

_o/` I remember the smiling face you wore._

As they continued to listen, their bodies began to relax, the pleasant melody gracing their ears and the kindness in her voice soothing their souls.

_o/` A single kiss upon my cheek,_

_o/` Your whispers of good night,_

_o/` I want to sleep..._

Various reactions from the gods came about, from Freya's envious 'hmmf' and Kazumi's nonchalant attitude to Freyr's love-struck eyes as he mumbled something about his precious Yamato Nadeshiko, and a _jaki_-possessed toaster flew straight to his head.

A surprised Narugami glanced over to a nearby Loki, "Seriously? That's Daidouji?"

The blonde god just smiled, knowingly.

_o/` So lonely, so lonely, lost in the darkness,_

_o/` I cry your name, hoping you would find me._

One by one, each person, still within the building who heard the song, fell to the floor, eyes closing and smiles on their faces as they drifted into a deep slumber.

_o/` Within my fading touch, just frozen nights_

_o/` And emptiness._

_o/` The stars' lullaby..._

Now that all the mortals were unconscious, it was time for the gods to retaliate, and Kazumi was happy to start it off by blasting the nearby objects to the wall, even his cackle a bit on the sadistic side as he proceeded to pound more spirits. Narugami immediately followed Kazumi's attack with Mjollnir, slicing them in half, releasing the _jaki_ from their core. Freya jumped in and collected the _jaki_ into her pot, like she was planning to make _jaki nabemono_, which probably wouldn't taste very good anyway.

_o/` Many late nights_

_o/` Of loneliness,_

_o/` Embracing my icy tears._

Freyr had just come out of his power up transformation and ran around blasting the flying _jaki_ with moons and stars and rainbows and maybe some horseshoes... and balloons?

_o/` You fill my mind, warming my heart,_

_o/` Like the sun melting the snow._

Loki sent a wave of flames into the air, hitting all the _jaki_ around him.

_o/` Straining my ears to hear your voice, my eyes close_

_o/` Just to see the dreams of a tomorrow._

Yamino ran around and snatched up the defeated _jaki_ at Loki's and Narugami's hands and stuffed them into his father's container.

_o/` Feeling this love, always with me,_

_o/` Guiding me to your heart,_

_o/` So please wait for me..._

Fenrir returned to his wolf form and chased the remaining _jaki_, grabbing them within the confines of his large mouth. He chewed them up like they were bubble gum.

_o/` This feeling in my chest, beating just for you._

_o/` The gentleness staring at me from afar._

Whatever _jaki_ was left gradually succumbed to the effects of the powerful voice, no longer frantically attacking the gods but drifting harmlessly in the air as if they had fallen into a deep trance.

_o/` Waiting for that someday, I sit in my room,_

_o/` Quietly watching_

_o/` The stars' lullaby..._

Loki was surprised that Mayura's voice was also affecting the spirits, which was strange that a mortal had such powers. He was pretty sure, when they first met, that she lacked any sixth sense or any spiritual abilities, so why was she able to display these powers now.

_o/` With the wind and the falling stars of the heavens,_

_o/` How many more moons will fade into darkness?_

_o/` Even if the dream is still far away,_

_o/` It will come true._

With the rest of the _jaki_ defeated, the gods hurried to collect them, even from Fenrir who spitted his collection on to the ground as one giant glob of shapeless spirits, and yes, they tasted terrible.

_o/` I'll always believe..._

_o/` The stars' lullaby._

When the final lyrics left her mouth, Mayura opened her eyes again, feeling the sadness from the song ache in her heart, able to relate to it, somehow. It was so strange, as if the sudden feeling was a premonition of what was to come, but when she felt a squeeze from Hel-chan's warm hands, she forgot about her troublesome and happily received the supportive smile from the goddess.

"It was beautiful, Mayura-san..."

Hel-chan was deeply moved by the mortal's voice and the particular song, having sensed Mayura's troubled heart, tears brimming at the edge of her emerald eyes. Mayura's arms dropped to her side, and she hugged the mortal, resting her head on her shoulder with closed her eyes and felt the girls arm return the embrace, but win from this battle was only the start of a much bigger one.

* * *

Poor Fenrir was the only one to revert to his powerless form, because a small puppy could only do so much against an evil spirit, and besides, they were at the mall anyway, so getting him proper clothing was not a problem. But getting him to wear clothes that weren't so flashy was the problem, and he exited the dressing room, wearing ripped, red jeans and a bright yellow, baggy t-shirt that advertised some J-rock band over a long sleeve black tee, and a bright orange striped beanie on his head and dark shades, and were those black leather, platform boots, with metal spikes and buckles across the front?

"Nii-san," Yamino sweatdropped, "I'm not paying for that."

"What?! But this is in style!"

"How do you know?"

"It was on tv last night!"

"What were you even watching?!"

"Oi, Klutzy!" Fenrir called, pointing to Freyr who looked around like he wasn't the one being addressed to, "Tell him this is the trend!"

Right, it figured Fenrir would take fashion tips from the resident drama queen, but the more important matter was to get out of the mall without the outside authorities questioning them. It was a good thing this specific mall was actually connected to the local subway system on the third basement level, that was still running despite the few people passed out down there too.

The new arrivals found it strange and were distracted enough that the group of immortals and one girl casually snuck by and in to the nearest train, conveniently, catching a ride back to their neighborhood.

All worn out from the mall excursion, they managed to all squeeze in together at one end of the compartment. The nine persons and two pets were literally squeezed in to the small space: Yamino hugging the bags of his precious appliances next to Hel-chan, who was resting her head on Mayura's shoulder, whose back was pressed halfway into Loki's embrace, who sweatdropped to Freya clinging to his arm while a standing Freyr had a grip on his sister's other arm, trying to get her away from the evil god, and all the yanking caused his elbow to hit Gullinbursti who kept bumping into an annoyed Gjallar in Kazumi's lap, on the other side of the train, making the small god even more annoyed at having to be squished between the idiot Freyr, whose elbow sometimes missed the piglet and hit his head instead, and the ever-moving Narugami fighting over a bag of pastries with a human Fenrir, who growled, threatening to bite Flashy Pants' hand off. (Phew, what a long, purposeful run-on sentence.)

This scenario continued until they reached the desired stopped when everyone practically ran for the door, shoving all riders and personnel aside.

* * *

After a very eventful day, the night was much more calmer and peaceful, almost to the point of it being eerie and foreboding. All residents of the Daidouji house were tucked in bed and snored away in to dreamland, most were just exhausted from the long day and had quickly surrender their consciousness, though there were a few exceptions.

Hel-chan, with the covers pulled up to her chin, blinked, gazing through the window, where the moonlight seeped through the sheer curtains. She remained still and quiet in the bed, listening to the steady breathing of her roommate, who had been lulled into a deep slumber. After a moment of certainty that the mortal girl wasn't going to awaken from Hel-chan's careful movements, the goddess slipped out of bed and stood briefly at the bedside, staring down at the peaceful-looking girl.

Her eyes widened, and she quickly covered her mouth, muffling the surprised sound at the sight of her friend, who appeared like she did not belong upon the earth. She turned away and quietly left the room, moving stealthily through the hallway and down the stairs, practically like a ghost drifting in silence, but really, she wouldn't be the goddess of the Underworld if she couldn't even move like the dead.

She glided through the house and eventually out the back door. She continued outside, towards the woodlands in the back of the Daidouji property, taking quite a bit of time walking, pushing through the trees and forest vegetation until she came upon a small clearing. Standing at the edge, she could make out the familiar figure upon the large rock, his back to her.

He turned his head to the side, giving her a beautiful view of his defined profile, and asked, "What are you planning?"

Hel-chan walked up to the rock and stood, posture straight and confident, still in her borrowed pajamas with both arms at her side, and visible in the moonlight, a solemn smile upon her lips, "Heimdall-san, I would like your help."

* * *

**Notes:** Hm, I debated long and hard whether to add the mall fight or not, which did include the singing, because well, it wasn't really needed... lol. *sweatdrops* Since it wasn't the song I'll be using in the end. I guess it's just one extra chapter to delay the end, huh? Lol.

But as you can see, the finale is coming up... in 2-3 chapters. *sniffles* -kuro.


	26. Chapter 26

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-Six.**

Tyr, standing alone in Odin's court, shouldn't be so nervous at being summoned, but the last time he appeared here, he had been demoted from his lofty status of being worshipped as a heroic god to _jaki_-trash collector. Even a few centuries later, it still wasn't a pleasant memory - not the memory where one looked back and laughed at the hilarity of it - and he could only quietly fear the worst for his future.

He was afraid to look about, wondering if it was the appointed time that he was to meet the god of all gods, because said god had not arrived yet. It was like Odin was purposely making him wait, stewing in misery of the unknown, and Tyr cursed himself mentally for not taking the opportunity to see the Norns first to get a hint of what was to come.

He finally heard footsteps approaching the empty throne and quickly knelt down in respect as Odin appeared in the terribly lit throne room. One of the sconces in the back flickered like a dying firefly, so an annoyed Odin snapped his fingers and torched the thing into a giant blaze and sat down, not caring that the fire was catching on to the tapestry behind him.

"You may rise, Tyr," he ordered

Said god sweatdropped and stood up, "You summoned for me, Odin-sama?"

"Yes. I have a task for you."

At those words, Tyr tensed up and pursed his lips in a thin, tight line - at least he wasn't demoted or anything, maybe this was a job that could even promote him to... something higher? What was higher than a god? A god level two?

"I need you to travel to Jotunheim," he spoke at a steady pace to allow each word to soak into the warrior god's average, or perhaps below average, brain, "You are to retrieve a hand full of dirt from there."

He opened his hand and raised it in to the air, a swirl of cool magic danced in his palm for a few seconds and then revealed a fancy flask of immense power.

"You will also take this with you," he indicated the flask in his hand that eventually floated through the air and plopped itself in to Tyr's hands, "With this power and the earth from Jotunheim, you will then ride to Svartalfheim and give these two things to the dark elves there. They will know what to do upon word of my name.

"You will depart immediately."

As strange as the tasks were, but this being Odin anyway, they seemed easy to follow, and there was no need for him to question the Almighty because it wasn't his place to address it and that was just way too much work for a simple Tyr. It was obvious that the meeting had ended so, he just bowed and excused himself to start his journey, and on his way out, he passed by Baldur and gave a nod of acknowledgement to the young god.

Baldur walked up to his father, standing right below the steps leading up to the throne, and sweatdropped at the blazing tapestry in the background. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking very serious, but it was difficult to express such an emotion when the sight of your intimidating father on his throne with flames dancing in the background fell between dramatics or just ridiculousness.

Odin didn't even need to speak, because he was just that nonchalant and cool (according to him) and just stared at his son until the he finally spoke, "What do you plan to do, father? Now that Hel is on Midgard.

"If she has left the Underworld, then she must be plotting something."

"Don't worry, I will have someone deal with Hel for her insubordination."

"You should take care of Loki too."

"Hmm... he hasn't done something that warrants death," Odin figured the humiliation of his stolen, gold ring by Loki wasn't a matter to be discussed, period, and they were still blood-sworn brothers after all, so there should at least be some honor in meeting him on the battlefield.

Baldur growled, biting his fingernail (like a conniving, little brat) at his failure of convincing his father to get rid of Loki for good, even if this was for his own personal grudge against the ever popular, handsome god. As he mentally retraced all the information reported to him about the events on Midgard, he made a list of Loki's weaknesses, which happened to be quite a few that he would have trouble dealing with, except for one.

He oh-so smiled evilly, "Father!"

"Yes?" He looked up from his daily Asgard newspaper briefly before returning his eyes to the print again.

"You must do something about the mortal girl! I've read from the latest reports of how she subdued a group of _jaki_ by just her voice! No mortal should have such powers! She will become a threat to us!"

Odin stared at his very dramatic son over the trivial matter of a mortal who could bewitch a few mischievous spirits, but he could tell that Baldur would not shut up if he didn't give it some thought. As much as he loved his favorite son, all kids at some point would become so goddamn annoying, and this just might be Baldur's moment to shine or fizzle...

He folded the newspaper up and laid it in his lap, and with a long sigh, he told him, "If you believe so, then I will leave it to you. Perhaps you can speak to Thor on the matter."

"Hmm," Baldur grinned at the suggestion, "I believe you're right, father. I haven't spoken to my dear brother in a decade."

"Good, now let me read the news in peace," he opened up the papers again, as Baldur turned to leave, both forgetting about he fire still burning in the background. And one could hear Odin mumbling to himself, "I wonder what the Norns say about my horoscope today." (Perhaps death by fire?!)

* * *

Back on Midgard, it was a beautiful Saturday morning at the Daidouji shrine, which had become such a huge attraction in the neighborhood due to all the gods and goddesses residing there. So on this particular day, the place was bombarded with patrons and many visitors throughout the neighborhood and nearby districts, and even a few foreign tourists who was recommended by word of mouth.

Even if her father was around - but he was still away - there was no way they could cater to the crowd with just two or three people, so Mayura and Narugami had no choice but to request aid from the rest of the Asgard pantheon of immortals. Sadly, the gods were the very reason these people were flocking to the shrine that Saturday morning, attracted by the obvious beauty and charisma.

After each person was given a set of proper shrine wear and dressed, they regrouped in the common room as Mayura inspected everyone, complimenting how they practically blinded her with their heavenly beauty, though Kazumi was the only one in a sour mood because he was the only kid there. (Lol, sorry, Heimdall-chan. I couldn't help but laugh... rofl... sorry *still laughing* Omigodz... I need to keep typing...)

After a very energetic pep talk that Mayura didn't allow any flirting or making passes, especially towards their mortal visitors and said shrine girl in charge, giving Loki and Freya the evil eye, she gestured everyone to follow her because she was going to put all of them to work. Even the whiny and cute human Fenrir was no exception, and he had to resort to his Ichirou identity for the time being.

As everyone followed Mayura out the front door, Kazumi called out to Freya. She stopped and turned around, just in time to catch something within her hands. Her lovely eyes widened at the object she held, a small gasp escaped her lips at seeing her beloved Brisingamen necklace, being returned to her, but she had embarrassingly pawned it off over two weeks ago in desperation for money.

Speechless, she stared at it then turned to Kazumi, at least wanting to thank him for retrieving it for her, but how would he have known anyway. She opened her mouth to speak, but he had waved her off, "I just happened to have found it." He made his way to her, eventually passing by her, "And returning it to its rightful owner."

He stopped in the doorway, a hand held on the frame, glancing up to her, "You will need it." With that said, he disappeared after the others, leaving a puzzled Freya with her jewelry. There was no use in trying to decrypt his words, so she shrugged it off and placed the necklace around her neck.

* * *

Mayura, currently ultra queen of the shrine, had mandated jobs to each person, sending beautiful Freya and handsome Loki to greet the visitors in the front courtyard, which helped bring in more potential patrons, because who could say no when a pretty person was staring one straight in the eye. Loki sometimes wondered if the girl was smarter than she let on, wishing he was doing something else, privately, than entertaining a bunch of strangers. He couldn't believe she was willingly throwing him to a bunch of mortal she-wolves.

"Tough luck, Loki-sama," she grinned in his direction after seeing his pitiful, unbelievable expression. He gave her a look that promised of future punishment as soon as the last crowds dispersed, but she only ran off, laughing at his misfortunes.

Freya, despite being surrounded by her admirers, had seen the display between two and frowned inwardly, still gracing the men her charming smiles.

Not too far, like right in the background, poor Freyr and Yamino were stuck at the souvenir stand, in charge of the sales of little trinkets and _omamori_ charms, which were very popular at the shrine. Many of the women and children were swarmed at the booths, browsing through the cute array of charms for all occasions from safety and protection to love and good luck. Surprisingly, some were made by Narugami, noted by the clumsy detail of a fold or the stroke of a character - having been a type of focus training for the young apprentice from his master, to really keep him from destroying the more important areas of the shrine.

Off to the side of the pathway, Hel-chan and Kazumi along with Ichirou - aka Fenrir - in the small administrative building, were busy answering questions relating to the Shinto religion or to the shrine itself. The puppy-turned-human had no idea what was going on, so he ended up just sitting there, pretending to still be the adorable puppy that was able to entice treats and rewards from gullible humans, but unfortunately, he owned received requests for dates, which he scowled to.

"I can't eat dates!" he would huff out in annoyance, after the females left him, giggling.

Kazumi and Hel-chan sweatdropped, as the latter said thoughtfully, "Well, ani-ue, if you're speaking about the other kind of _dates_ that you can actually eat..."

The smaller god rolled his eye, "You would get food if you go on these _dates_, but considering how you're just a wolf and broke, they are quite the unattractive qualities."

"Yeah, that's why mortal girls are so annoying!" the naïve demi-god continued to rant.

* * *

And that left the rest of the important shrine duties to Mayura and Narugami, having more experiences even if the latter had only recently picked up the apprenticeship. It was practically a three-week crash course in the Shinto religion and rituals, which was really a one-week course for Narugami who spent most of the time fixing what he destroyed. After a few blessings, he was getting the hang of it, and most of the time just mimicked his female partner, who was very adept in performing the rituals, having grown up with the religion.

Loki thought it was ironic that the mortal, who once didn't believe in gods, grew up in the Shinto religion that believed and followed the path of many gods, but he knew the reason why she had become that way, from her file. It was quite admirable of her in a way, how she continued through life with that piece of hindrance of her faith, but it was their fateful meeting - not that he believed in fate, per se, or left himself in the hands of the Norn sisters - that had changed the both of them.

Being around her, being with her, he realized how fragile human life could be and had forgotten the special connection between gods and mortals that originated from ancient times. The flow of time truly changed that symbiotic relationship - from the once intermingling between the various races to living in seperate worlds and calling upon prayers to grant wishes - becoming a large gap that stretched across the Nine Worlds.

Yet he, a proud, elite god, was here on Midgard, had created a strange but special bond with a peculiar mortal girl, though he wasn't alone in this journey as his gaze fell across the shrine landscape, identifying each immortal and his/her reasons for willingly or unwillingly joining him in the silly adventures.

Oh, and even more ironic was the fact that a Shinto shrine of Japan was literally housing a group of gods, gods from mythology that originated from half away around the world.

Loki closed his eyes and smiled at the thought, enjoying the warmth of the sun upon his skin and the breeze wafting through the golden silks of his hair, and many women swooned and fainted on the spot. He inwardly sighed at the background noise ruining the peaceful moment for him, also reminding him that he still had a job to do. The twitch of his eye muscle was a sign that he was going to truly punish Mayura dearly for her transgressions, and he prayed (to himself?) that the day would be over quickly.

* * *

By the time mid-afternoon rolled around, most of the crowds had unwillingly died out, not wanting to part from the greatest shrine in Japan, but if they didn't, the authorities would pull in and force a lock down and maybe begin an investigation of a possible cult that was brainwashing half of Tokyo's population to do nefarious deeds. They just couldn't have that and dealt with making a visit the next day a priority.

The remaining visitors were gradually leaving the property, which allowed Yamino to duck from his sales job and begin to make lunch for everyone. Mayura gathered everyone together, offering a grateful smile and a deep bow (and maybe a debt) for their assistance that day. She wanted them to take a break and enjoy the rest their day and excused herself to finish cleaning up.

Freya happily latched onto a sweatdropping Loki's arm, preventing him from seeking out his pink-haired target, which Freyr appeared to be doing already, insisting that he had a ton of energy left to help the girl in her tasks. Mayura smiled and nodded, her pleasant expression flustered the idiot to the point he was stuttering and tripping after her, and Gullinbursti even tagged along.

Loki's left eye was being all twitchy again, watching Mayura walk off with the klutz as if he didn't exist a tall, but he was quite wrong. The girl had glanced back to him, still in Freya's clutches, and he noted the furrowed brows and pout before she whipped her head away. Loki blinked, trying to take in her reaction as jealousy, and smiled, "Say, Freya."

"Yes, Loki-darling?" she nuzzled her cheek against the sleeve of his outfit, as he sweatdropped.

"Uh, why... don't we go help out too."

She sighed happily, oh-so very content on being with Loki and doing anything with him, "Anything for you Loki~!"

* * *

"Why don't you take these, Freyr-sama," Mayura pointed to the extra boxes by the sales booth, "to the storage room. I'll put away the rest."

"Yes~ my lovely Yamato Nadeshiko~!" he sang, overly delighted because he was now spending some quality time with his female perfection, and twirled around in her direction with outstretched arms, yearning for her loving embrace. He could just imagine her giggling in his arms as he snuggled his cheek against her hair, but if he had been in reality he would have noticed that... Mayura had ducked down to pick up a fallen charm on the ground, so poor Freyr's face slammed right into the pole of the booth.

Gullinbursti, sweatdropping, winced, "Bwee..."

"Nee-chan," Kazumi called out, walking over to Mayura, "Hel needs to talk to you." He looked over to a semi-conscious, spirally-eyed Freyr and sweatdropped, "Er, I guess I'll help out."

"Ah okay, thanks, Kazumi-kun!"

She handed the box she had to him and hurried off to find Hel-chan. After she left, Kazumi stomped over to Freyr and dropped the box onto his chest, bringing the god back to reality. "Let's finish, Freyr," he ordered, "There's not much time left on Midgard."

Freyr sits up, with crossed legs and the box in his lap, as he rubbed his forehead, which was already wrinkling with pain and confusion, "What do you mean?"

Kazumi looked down at him, seriously, "There's no turning back from this point. We can't return to these carefree days anymore." He raises his eye to the blue afternoon skies, and Freyr and Gullinbursti followed his gaze, both squinting and trying to see what was important up there (besides Asgard?).

"We're not freelance gods... We belong in Asgard."

Kazumi picked up a box and carried it away, leaving a bewildered god and his pet piglet.

* * *

Seeing that it was just Kazumi and Freyr and Gullinbursti in the distance, Loki had turned back, still with Freya attached to his arm, and he sighed, wondering how much longer his arm had before the circulation was cut off. He needed a magical crowbar crafted by the dwarves of Nidavellir to pry her, but all was forgotten when he spotted his eldest son on the shrine steps.

After the tough afternoon of human labor, Fenrir was still in his powerless form, since he probably had about four hours left, stretching his arms and legs. He would never understand mortals who enjoyed that type of work, or any work for that matter since all he ever did was eat, sleep, poop, eat more and sleep some more while harassing everyone else, which came down to pure slacking off.

"Fenrir," came Loki's voice, and he perked up like the obedient, attentive son that he was.

He glared at Freya, who returned the mutual feeling, before joyfully answering his father, "Yes, daddy?!"

"Have you seen Mayura?"

Fenrir shook his head, "No clue, daddy." He thought for a moment, "I haven't seen Hel either."

Freya, thinking too, put a finger to her chin, "Hm, you know, I haven't seen Thor for a while either."

Great, who else had gone missing?!

* * *

Speaking of Narugami, he had wandered off with the crowd of visitors when they were parting from the shrine, following someone he thought was very suspicious, nevermind that he didn't bother to let his partner and the rest know of his intuition. After a bit of trailing the stranger, he followed the young man into a very expensive-looking restaurant and was stopped by the host, who greeted him hesitantly because of his Shinto wear he still had on and Mjollnir strapped to his back.

"I'm just looking for someone," Narugami tried to explain, peering over the separation, and found his target. He followed the man with his eyes, frowning with a terrible feeling in his gut, and when the man reached his designated table, he turned around, smiling in Narugami's direction.

"That bastard!" he cried and marched right in to the dining area, up to the seated man, "Baldur! What in the Nine Worlds are YOU doing here?!"

A flustered host had chased the intruder down, but Baldur, oozing out an aura of the rich and powerful, waved the old man away. He complied and scurried back to his post, leaving the two brothers to stare each other down. Baldur snapped his fingers for a server and requested their best red wine before turning back to Narugami and gesturing for him to sit in the empty chair across from him, but Narugami didn't budge, still staring him down.

"Is that any way to greet your own brother, Thor?"

Narugami raised a brow, curiously, asking, "Are you here as my brother?"

"Of course," he gave a kind smile, one that seemed to work for Narugami, who took Mjollnir from his back and finally sat down, laying his faithful weapon on the table in front of him.

"I see you're having a difficult time here," he eyed his brother's outfit, "Working to make ends meet?"

"Seriously, Baldur, I hate all this fancy talk. Just get to the point."

"Father and I were just concern for your well-being."

"..."

"We would like you to return home."

For Narugami, it just sounded too good to be true, "What's the catch?"

"There's a small problem on Midgard you just have to take care of."

"What is it?" he looked up when he spotted the server returning to them, with a tray of the ordered wine bottle and two wine glasses. They waited till the cork was popped and the wine poured into both goblets and placed in front of each men. The man bowed and departed, and the conversation resumed.

"You need to eliminate someone."

Narugami frowned, knowing very well Baldur's animosity with Loki, and pounded his fist on the table, "I will not betray my best friend!"

Baldur rolled his eyes and took a sip of the wine, while Narugami ignored his.

"Loki is not your target," he snorted, "As much as I would like it to be."

"So you do have your own agenda after all," Narugami stood up and snatched Mjollnir from the table.

"Wait, Thor!"

Baldur, half out of his chair, had grabbed his brother's wrist to hold him back and offered his other hand to him, showing him a metal head plate sewn right into the length of the navy blue fabric - a head guard that ninjas of ancient times wore for protection, "I offer you _Megingjoro_, as good faith on my word. If you eliminate our problem, then your return will to Asgard secured." *****

Narugami stared down at the item that once belonged to him, "What about Loki and the others?"

"Their opportunity will appear."

He wasn't technically lying, but he wasn't going to offer his enemy nor the others the chance to return to Asgard. That wasn't his job anyway, but he had to choose his words carefully, "But yours is right now, Thor."

The swordsman sighed and snatched Megingjoro head guard from his brother's hand, sealing their deal, which received a very creepy, evil smile from Baldur. Narugami narrowed his eyes at him, sudden regret surfacing in his stomach. He gritted his teeth, clutching both his possessions in his hands tightly as Baldur laughed.

Now that the agreement between two gods had been made, no matter what, Narugami could not turn it down or forfeit it all, because a god's word was his life, and his eyes widened as Baldur spoke...

"Daidouji Mayura."

* * *

***** Megingjoro is originally Thor's belt in Norse mythology, but I made it as a head guard to fit in with the Japanese culture, lol. Though I could've left it as a belt. *shrugs* Wouldn't you like to know what is inscribed on the metal part? Bwahaha, I'll tell you later. *grins*

* * *

**Notes:** I can't believe this was so long! I know this chapter had little of Mayura and/or MayuLoki-ness, but it had some important scenes, lol... as hilarious as the first one could be... *sweatdrops* Sorry, I have a habit of adding some humor to serious moments.

Dundunduuun, poor Narugami has to kill Mayura! But Loki won't let that happen! I know I've made Baldur's such a jerk, different from mythology, but I dunno... I guess someone had to be evil... besides Odin. Baldur will get his due punishment later... in the future? Lol. Okay I'm rambling now... and this chapter is 4k+ words! Yikes! Which makes this particular story my number one story with the most chapters AND the most word count! Phew! -kuro.


	27. Chapter 27

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-Seven.**

The streets of Tokyo were still filled with people going about their busy days, but it was the beautiful skies that caught their attention. The late afternoon glow of the orange sun sent a warm feeling into Mayura's heart as she stood, her gaze lost in serene thoughts, half an eaten meaty pastry within both hands. Hel-chan stepped up beside her, with the other half of the pastry in her own hand and a book tucked under her other arm, and smiled.

Both girls, in their regular clothes having had time to change before they left the shrine, stood still among the throngs of people walking around them, as if they had frozen in time while the world continued without them.

"Ne Hel-chan," the girl turned to her friend, "was it all right just to leave the others at home?"

She blushed and looked away, "I... just wanted to spend a few more moments with Mayura-san."

The mortal blinked, "A few... more? What do you mean, Hel-chan?"

Hel-chan lifted her eyes to the girl, trying her best to smile, "I'm sorry, Mayura-san, but I don't have much time left..."

"Wha...?" The pastry fell from Mayura's hand and laid forgotten on the ground, "You're leaving? But what about Loki-sama?! Fenrir and Yamino-san?!" She grabbed Hel-chan's hands, another pastry dropping to the ground.

"There's a place I want to take you, Mayura-san," she smiled.

* * *

After his run in with his brother, Narugami, in a sullen mood, returned to the Daidouji shrine, walking up the steps, and soon, a group of troubled gods in the middle of the courtyard came into his view. They had all returned to their regular clothing, leaving him the oddball out in the Shinto wear, not that he found it uncomfortable, having been used to it for weeks now.

He blinked and hurried over to them, and most were relieved to see him, unharmed. Freya, with arms folded her body, sighed with a hint of annoyance at the god of thunder, "You could at least let one of us know if you were going to run off during lunch."

"Aha, sorry, Freya," he apologized and rubbed the back of his head in shame.

Fenrir, still human, had been sitting on top of one of the stone lanterns with crossed legs, a finger in his ear, looking disinterested, "Lucky me I got your share!"

"Is that so?"

The demi-god cracked an eye open and stared at him, "Weird that you'd miss out on lunch."

A very serious Loki cut in, standing in front of Narugami, "Have you seen Mayura? Or Hel?"

"No. Why?"

"Freyr's beloved Yamato Nadeshiko's been kidnapped!"

Narugami sweatdropped at Freyr's sudden dramatic proclamation but turned to Loki, "Why don't you track her down like you normally do?"

He shook his head, "I can't see the white thread anymore." He seemed so disappointed and hurt, "If she is with Hel, I wouldn't worry so much, but... This just doesn't feel right." He could still feel the connection he had with Mayura, the feeling was faint but still existed and she wasn't in trouble either, but to lose the very thread that lead him to her, it was disturbing that someone had fiddled with their bond.

Yamino, ever the worrier, added, "Mayura-san left her phone behind too. And with nii-san like this..." He glanced to his brother's sulky form, still in the same spot on the stone decoration, without any need to finish his sentence because they knew with the great wolf in his human state, his sense of smell had dulled, being completely useless.

Freyr started to cry even louder for his Yamato Nadeshiko, hugging a sympathetic Gullinbursti, while his sister was prepared to smack his head with a frying pan to shut him up. Everyone sweatdropped at the siblings.

Loki eyed his friend, who seemed uncharacteristically silent, almost brood-like, "Do you know something, Thor?"

Narugami looked up, snapping out of his silent wondering if Baldur had a hand in it, "What? I know as much as you do..." Sure, Baldur may have ordered him to kill Mayra, but he still didn't know the reason behind it, nor what he and his father were planning, but just something about his suspicious manner had ticked off Loki.

The blonde god grabbed him by the collar, yelling angrily, even his eyes flashed a dangerous red, "Dammit, Thor! If anything happens to Mayura, I... I won't forgive you!"

"Loki..." A shocked Freya whispered his name, while everyone else had been stunned by the scene in front of them, for Loki to lose his anger at his long time friend, like the inevitable event was drawing near.

"If you guys are done," all eyes turned to the voice, belonging to one arrogant Heimdall, "then we need to go now."

Freyr jumped to his feet and ran to the short god, "Heimdall! Do you know where Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko is?!"

"She's with Hel, and they're waiting for us."

Loki narrowed his eyes him, "What do you know about this?"

* * *

"A god's existence is a long and lonesome one. We forget things that were once dear to us. We lose things that once held meaning in our hearts.

"A long time ago, gods did not live in Asgard. We were among the many races that were a part of the Nine Worlds.

"But no one is perfect, and conflicts stemmed from greed and distrust, the darkness within one's heart. Finding the imperfections of others so distasteful, the gods left for the sacred havens of Asgard, isolating themselves from all, while others began to worship them, idolized and prayed for faraway dreams."

"It must be difficult, the feeling of loneliness," Mayura understood it very well, "but I can't imagine having to endure it for hundreds of years." A soft smile fell on her lips, "Loki-sama is lucky to have his family."

Hel-chan smiled faintly, resting her head against Mayura's shoulder, and her eyes fell onto the book in her lap. Just the two of them on the quiet bus, seated in the middle with Mayura nearest to the aisle. The light outside the bus shimmered a bright orange, as Mayura looked down at the young goddess, whose eyes had serenely closed. She lifted her gaze once more to the scenery outside the moving vehicle, watching the countryside landscape pass them by, not knowing their destination, but in her heart, she knew these were the final moments with Hel-chan.

"One day," Hel-chan's voice drifted in the tranquil silence, "the gods will be punished." (Ragnarok?)

* * *

"Hel is planning to corrupt the Yggdrasil System."

"WHAT?"

Obviously, everyone was purely shocked by this information, even moreso was the goddess' only family, who didn't even know the girl had the guts to do that. Then again, when they recalled Hel-chan's powerless form, they really shouldn't be surprised that she would do something so gutsy, but to take down the whole Yggdrasil System, that was practically the core of Asgard?!

"Yggdrasil has been around for a long time," Freyr stated.

Freya added, still sounding doubtful, "And no one has ever dared to mess with it."

"Why would Hel do this?" Loki inquired, not able to grasp the reason why his daughter, who had always kept to herself in the Underworld, would do such a thing as drastic as topple Asgard - not that he would mind if it was just a huge prank of Asgard.

Heimdall had taken the rest of the gods on another empty bus, seated in his own spot near the back, as he contemplated over Hel-chan's words from the night before. Loki was in the seat across from him, eyeing the small god, while his two sons took the space in front of him. Freya and Freyr took the seat behind Loki, and Narugami was still brooding near the front of the bus.

"Odin is not expecting us to complete the task," Heimdall frowned.

"Freyr doesn't believe this!"

"This is Odin-sama!" Freya cried, milding offended that their Almighty God was spoken as a sneaky bastard.

Heimdall stared at the siblings, "Just think about it. Do you know exactly how many _jaki_ there are in the world?" No one could answer, so he told them, "A little over three billion in Midgard alone, and each day, about a hundred are born. And the ones in Tyr's jar held just under two million."

Everyone sweatdropped, all held one single thought: 'Poor Tyr.'

And somewhere in Jotunheim, Tyr sneezed.

Heimdall continued, "It will take all of nee-chan's lifetime for us to gather Tyr's missing _jaki_." He paused and looked over to Loki, asking the inevitable, "Just how many of her lifetimes would that be, to collect the rest of the world's?"

"..."

"If we can infiltrate the Yggdrasil System and corrupt its central unit, Odin will have no choice but to reboot the whole system before all of Asgard crashes into chaos."

Loki could finally see what Hel's intentions were. If the plan was successful, Yggdrasil would return to its original state since its first run, with all data wiped out, including all records and wishes from the Wish Program, which meant that Mayura's wish would also be erased. And without the wish, it would allow him to return to Asgard as if it never happened in the first place.

"Why wouldn't father just destroy the whole system then?" Narugami finally spoke up.

It was Freyr who answered, "Yggdrasil is connected to all of the worlds. If it were to be completely destroyed, so would the balance of the Nine Worlds."

"Odin's only option is to reboot the system," Heimdall nodded.

Fenrir, having finally returned to his puppy form, snorted, "How would a klutz like Freyr know?"

Said god puffed out indignantly, flailing his arms about, until his sister snapped her fingers for some pots to silence him. Everyone sweatdropped as she explained, "We were born from the original Yggdrasil tree. We have an innate bond with it."

"Ha, that's why Odin keeps Klutzy around!" Fenrir laughed.

Yamino, looking at Heimdall, asked, "How will Hel do this?"

The one-eyed god smirked.

* * *

Somewhere in the outskirts of the city, an beautiful field of green stretched for miles, beyond what the human eye could see, flora and foliage swaying in the breeze. In the distance, a very large ash tree sat upon a small hill, and two familiar girls stood underneath it, staring up through the leafy canopy that covered them. The wind blew through their hair, letting them dance like separate entities.

Mayura pushed some loose strands from her face, her eyes trailed at the height of the tree, the largest one that she had ever seen before.

"Is this...?" she began, her hand reaching out to touch the trunk of the tree.

Hel-chan nodded, "Yes, this is the Yggdrasil tree, connecting the Nine Worlds together."

With her hand pressed against the ancient tree, a surge of power rushed through her mortal body, almost electrifying her senses, "Waah, I can feel the strange power!" She quickly took back her hand, staring in amazement.

The goddess stared at the ground, looking very regretful, "I'm sorry, Mayura-san, to drag you into this..."

Mayura placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and with her other one, she touched Hel-chan's chin and lifted her face up, to meet her gentle eyes. "Didn't I already agree, Hel-chan?" she lightly admonished the timid girl for having forgotten their conversation on the bus, "I don't understand your plan very well, but you're doing this because you love Loki-sama.

"So, I at least understand what Hel-chan is feeling."

Hel-chan's eyes began to moisten, and she felt terrible at the mortal's kind soul. She threw her arms around Mayura, crying in to her chest, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to use you!"

Ever since she met Mayura, gradually understanding what type of mortal she was, the guilt had eaten Hel-chan's heart, because she had planned to use her to mess with the Yggdrasil System, which would allow her father to return to Asgard, but after her days on Midgard, she had learned so much about the girl and her father and all those around her. It wasn't just a wish that had tied her father to Mayura, but a bond had been created and nurtured into something very special, and she could see the feelings that radiated from both of them.

"Loki-sama is very important to me too, so I want him to be happy."

"But," she sobbed, "I can see how happy father is with you! Even Fenrir-ani and Jormungand-ani!"

"Hel-chan," she called softly, tightening her arms around the goddess, "you aren't doing this just for them, right? You said that gods are lonely. They watch over mortals and envy the bonds that we make... but if we can change that, then why don't we?"

She held Hel-chan back and watched her wipe the tears from her eyes, "Instead of punishing gods, let's create a world for gods and mortals!

"For your sake, Loki-sama's sake, and everyone's... I'll do my best!"

"MAYURA!"

The girls turned towards the voice, and the brightest smile erupted from Mayura's face as she slipped away from Hel-chan and ran to Loki, who was dashing for her too. Hel-chan, still teary-eyed, was smiling when Mayura abruptly tripped, falling forward, but Loki had caught her in time and cradled the clumsy mortal in his arms, obsessively, "Mayura, you can't do anything without me by your side."

She looked up at him, pouting, "Mou Loki-sama! Even for a god, that's very arrogant of you to assu-"

Her words were suddenly muffled by his lips over hers as she struggled, but he was relentless when he finally had the opportunity to kiss her. The warmth, the passion, everything about him, she felt all of him through the contact of their lips, and she stopped resisting, her arms weaved around his neck, as his arm around her waist pulled her closer to him, practically melding her body into his, and his free hand held the side of her face.

Both lost in their own world...

"Loki!"

"Yamato Nadeshiko!"

The pair cried, "NOOOOOOO!"

A frantic and upset pair of siblings freaked out in the distance - one holding a magical wand, the other with a magical frying pan - making a run at the kissing duo, with the rest of the sweatdropping gods jogging after them.

Loki and Mayura finally pulled back for air, and he chuckled out, "Mayu-chan talks too much."

The breathless, blushing pink-haired girl peeked up to see the god smirking down at her, and her shyness turned into annoyance at his cool, arrogant manner, because he could make her feel a thousand different things while he just remained calm and aloof about it - so unfair! (I feel your pain...)

He peered at her slyly, "Were you that dissatisfied?" She turned her head to the side, not able to hide her red face, trying to push him away, and with a hard shove, it sent them both in opposite directions to the ground. He blinked while several shadows appeared behind him, looming menacingly, as he nervously smiled to the audience of gods and figured that was why Mayura broke them apart.

"Loki! How could you!" Freya teared up, biting on a handkerchief dramatically.

Freyr, tears already streaming down his face, "Curse you, Loki! Corrupting Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko!"

Heimdall didn't care for what Loki did, but this wasn't the time for romance, "Do this on your own time!"

"Sensei's gonna be so pissed," Narugami sighed and gazed up to the skies, "Sorry, sensei, I couldn't protect Daidouji's purity."

An annoyed Loki, with his left eye twitching, shouted at Narugami, "It was only a kiss!"

The sun was just setting over the horizon, welcoming the evening skies, but the drastic change of darkness alerted the group to the major turn in mood and danger. Clouds gathered overhead and bursts of lightning flashed for the tense moment. Hel-chan hurried over to them and shouted in a surprisingly loud voice, "They're coming."

Heimdall walked over to Hel-chan, who looked at Mayura and told her, "Mayura-san, please begin as soon as you see a change in Yggdrasil. She then hugged her father, "I'm sorry, father, for not telling you."

Loki returned the embrace and kissed her forehead, "I understand, and I love you, Hel."

"Father," she smiled, "I love you too. Please protect Mayura-san."

"Of course."

She pulled back and then said her goodbyes to her brothers, "I had fun."

"Don't sound like this is the end, Hel!" Fenrir snorted, hating to express his emotions so publicly, and turned away.

She giggled at her older brother's tough attitude, but he was such a softie deep down, and Yamino patted her head, "Nii-san is right. We'll be seeing you again, Hel!"

"All right, enough of this," Heimdall waved, "We need to go, Hel."

She nodded and joined Heimdall as they walked towards Yggdrasil, and with one finally glance back to her family, Hel-chan smiled before she and the one-eyed god disappeared in to the tree. Just as they did, the clouds erupted with several winged-beings, all armed and all female and all heading straight for the group.

"The Valkyries!" Freya gasped.

They all moved closer to Yggdrasil as the army of Valkyries approached them, but they didn't get any farther than the outer perimeter of the tree, remained floating but well-prepared for an assault.

* * *

Meanwhile, Heimdall and Hel-chan reappeared at the base of another Yggdrasil, but this time the realm was nothing like Midgard, where the skies were bright and clear, unlike the damp, dark, cavern-like space. It wasn't enclosed but opened up to a field of emptiness, dead vegetation scattered across the land encrusted with ice, leaving Yggdrasil as the only living entity in that entire world. The faint mist of frost crept over the ground, sending a terrible chill to those unfamiliar with the place.

The pair had finally arrived in Niflheim.

Hel-chan, having held a book in arms since who knew how long ago that was, finally opened it and flipped through the pages until she came upon what she wanted. She held her palm over it and chanted a few words, summoning a bright light, and from it, a dagger rose into the air.

She had awaken 'Famine' from its slumber. *****

"Hurry, Hel!" came Heimdall's prompt voice.

But of course, nothing ever went smoothly. Hel-chan's path was obstructed by one floating entity, taking the familiar form of her father, but the huge grin on his face was filled with malice and other terrible things. He even dared to adorn himself with Loki's formal garments of Asgard, and she couldn't forgive whoever it was for tainting her father's image. She glared and prepared to attack, but Heimdall retreated to her side, left arm slightly extended in front of her as a sort of protective gesture,

"Why is he taking Loki's form?" he questioned, "I even sense Loki's powers."

She shook her head, "I don't know, but he can't be father!"

"Who are you?!" Heimdall demanded, "And what do you want?!"

The doppelganger cackled madly and raised his hands into the air, summoning the element of fire to prove that he was not just a copy of the god of fire. He would become the god himself, and he would start by eliminating his targets. His right eye suddenly flashed red, and Heimdall, shocked and horrified, could not move, because he was staring at the being who possessed his missing right eye.

* * *

"Mayura, stay close to me," Loki urged, as he kept the frightened girl behind him. Yamino and Fenrir were to their father's right, staying alert, while Narugami took his other side, with Freyr and Freya, covering the other half of the Yggdrasil tree.

"What the hell!" Fenrir cursed, growling at being surrounded by Asgard's army of Valkyries, "Is Odin tryin' to start a war?!"

"Nothing of the sort."

Baldur laughed, appeared in front of the group, at the edge of tree's reach, and Narugami grimaced at seeing his brother again, being reminded of the deal they had made.

"But I can't let you mess with the Yggdrasil System."

* * *

With a brighter flash of the right eye from the mysterious Loki, Heimdall screamed and fell to his knee, clutching the right side of his face in pain. Hel-chan rushed to his side and gasped at seeing the stream of blood dripping down his face. He clenched his teeth, struggling with the immense pain throughout his body.

Hel-chan, clearly angry, jumped to her feet and charged at the intruder with her dagger in hand. Her black and white wings sprouted from her back as she flew forward, and her dagger clashed against another weapon. Her green eyes widened in surprise, staring down in recognition of her father's own staff, Laevateinn. "Father?" she questioned with disbelief.

He grinned, "Then what a disobedient child you are."

She couldn't believe that the stranger even had her father's voice - sound, appearance, everything about him was exactly like Loki - but she knew in her heart that he wasn't her father, because he would never raise a hand against her.

While fending her off with the staff, he lifted his free hand to her body, summoning a spiralling ball of black fire, and blasted her with it. Hel-chan, screaming in agony, was thrown back as a struggling Heimdall cried out her name. He tried to get to her to catch her before she hit the ground, but he could barely move in his weakened state.

"Mistress!"

* * *

"Why are you even here, Baldur?" Loki demanded. "Is a group of stranded gods that threatening for you, to send in the Valkyries?"

"Ha? Threatened by you?" he laughed, "You do realize that all of you don't even have your full powers. So killing you would be so easy."

"But you hate getting your hands dirty."

"Oh! So that's why you sent the Valkyries here!" Freya pointed at him accusingly, "And to think you came from the honorable loins of Odin!"

All the males in the vicinity sweatdropped at her phrase, not sure whether it was because of her choice of words or that she thought Odin's loins were honorable. With the sudden (comedic) break, Tyr appeared in a flash at Baldur's side, giving the group another big surprise.

Baldur glanced to the warrior god, who spoke, "He's in Niflheim now, dealing with those two."

"Good."

At the mention of the Niflheim, Loki jerked his head to them, "Don't you dare hurt Hel!"

"I won't be hurting her," he chuckled, "You will. More precisely, the other half of you."

Loki realized that Odin still had half of his powers contained in Asgard, but he just didn't know exactly what Baldur meant by those words.

"She should've stayed in the Underworld, like she was supposed to, and mind her own business," Baldur shrugged and then clapped his hands together, "Now why don't we start the massacre?" He then turned his eyes to Narugami in the back, "Won't you do the honors, dear Thor?"

By the time they all focused on Narugami, the god of thunder had already captured Mayura, cupping his hand over the girl's mouth, but she wasn't even resisting, too in shock that a good friend had betrayed them. His head - adorned with the head guard, Megingjoro - hung low, almost brushing against her shoulder, his brown bangs and shadow concealing his eyes and turmoil of emotions.

And Loki couldn't believe what he was seeing...

* * *

***** Famine is the goddess Hel's dagger, according to wikipedia site, lol.

* * *

**Notes:** Ugh, sorry for the cliffhanger... but as I was working on this last night, the power went out, lol... So many storms lately. Anyway, there's quite a few cuts back and forth that even had me confused, lol. I don't know how I feel about this chapter exactly, but it covered most of what I wanted, so the next chapter is it, guys... *sweatdrops* Totally confused yet?

Ano, do you think the kiss was too soon? Lol, too soon... I can't believe I asked that, considering this is the second to last chapter! *bops her own head* I guess I meant to ask if the kiss was appropriate there? Lol, to get her to stop talking? *shakes her head and shrugs* I don't know what I'm thinking at this point! *goes to take her medicine* Cold medicine! Lol... -kuro.


	28. Chapter 28

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

"Daijoubu" ("It's All Right") is from the anime _Boys Be_, sung by Maeda Aki. I altered the English translation so you can sing along with the song too! You can youtube it!

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-Eight.**

"Mistress!"

Hel-chan crashed into another body, much bigger and more softer as her cheek brushed across the thick, luscious fur of ebony. She was semi-conscious, but the texture beneath her fingers was all too familiar to her, and she smiled faintly, half draped over the creature, "Thank you, Garmr..."

"Hel-sama, I'm sorry," the large hellhound of Helheim lowered his head in shame, "If I had arrived here sooner, you wouldn't have been injured."

"But you're here now," Hel-chan chuckled, surprising him very much.

"Hel-sama, you're... laughing...? About this serious matter?"

With some assistance from him, she was able to prop herself up again, some slight staggering on her left leg because if she hadn't moved at the last minute from the blast, she wouldn't have a left side at all. She brushed a shakey hand through her hair, thinking how she must've picked up the optimistic attitude from a certain pink-haired mortal.

"What... the hell... are you?!" Heimdall was able to stand, despite the pain throbbing in his head, "Why... do you have my eye?! Did Loki have it all along?! EXPLAIN, DAMMIT!"

Hel-chan straightened up as much as she could, holding onto her bloody left side, and Garmr remained by her protective side, their attention on a frustrated Heimdall shouting at the powerful being that pretty much held their fates in his hands.

"Don't refer me to as that sorry excuse for a god!" he scoffed, arms folded across his chest as he floated in the air. From the earth of Jotunheim, the dark elves of Svartalfheim had molded a proper vessel, with their magic, to store Loki's remaining powers, and adding the eye that had been lost to complete a single god that could easily bring about destruction to one realm. And that was who he had become, a bringer of death, and after he rid these two pests, Loki would be next.

"I am..." he smiled. When Loki no longer exist in the Nine Worlds, he would emerge as the one and only, "Utgard Loki."

* * *

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, THOR?!"

Loki, at this point, couldn't think straight. His best friend had turned against him, against them, taking his most important person as hostage, or whatever Baldur wanted, because this couldn't be Thor's willing action. He wanted to believe in his friend, trust him, but with Mayura in his hold, he didn't know what to believe anymore. He couldn't take his eyes away from her, the frightened look in her eyes. She was scared...

He took his step forward, a hand wanting to reach out to her, to comfort her.

"Tut tut," Baldur shook his head in warning, "I wouldn't take another step."

Loki searched within Mayura's silent eyes, that were pleading to him, and he realized that she wasn't frightened for herself. She was afraid of what Loki would do, not wanting to be the reason that would ruin a long time friendship, and he lowered his head, ashamed that he had faltered, even for a bit. His shoulders slumped forward, and he began to laugh while his sons and allies stared at the god, who appeared to have lost his composure.

When he looked up again, meeting her beautiful eyes, his expression softened in apology but also thanking her for still believing in him.

Narugami hadn't even budged from his spot, his hand still over her mouth but no longer holding her with much force. He smiled inwardly, wondering why the girl didn't even resist against him, but he had already known the answer though hard to accept that such a pure soul existed. "Why, Daidouji?" his voice just barely audible for her to hear, "Why...?"

Her eyes still locked with Loki's, and she was smiling, "Because I believe this isn't Narugami-kun."

"Daidouji..."

He shut his eyes tightly, distraught and regretful of his actions, that he would let the contract of a god overshadow his own beliefs, but she never held it against him, and Loki, his best friend...

"THOR!"

He snapped his head up, in shock, as Loki shouted to him, no longer indecisive, "I leave Mayura to you!"

Baldur staggered back in alarm at flames blasting in his direction. He had barely stepped aside when all hell broke loose, and in anger, he screamed for his army to attack, "VALKYRIES! NO ONE IS TO SURVIVE!"

The winged, female warriors all shouted their battle cries before charging with various deadly weapons at the group, who in turn, prepared to retaliate. The siblings had already begun, showering the area with their bright, golden power, blinding as many of their enemies as possible, while a smoky mist enveloped Yamino and Fenrir, whose demi-god powers were released. Within a few seconds, their forms were obscured by the clouds, and from them, the giant wolf emerged, along side his little brother, the infamous giant snake that could surround Midgard - both as large as the Yggdrasil tree.

Baldur gritted his teeth angrily at the sight of the rebelling gods, especially Loki who was making his way towards him, and decided a retreat was best to avoid any injuries to himself - lest he wanted to upset his dear mother. Was he underestimating his enemies, because Loki was not just a few feet away from him, the flames in his hands were burning an intense color, almost a pure white, matching the blonde god's own fury.

A furious Loki, still in mid-flight, shot his fist down upon a frowning Baldur...

* * *

Utgard Loki dropped down on the roots of Yggdrasil and ran along it, white wings suddenly sprouted from his back. With Laevateinn in his right hand, he charged towards a staggering Heimdall. The glow of the right eye pulsating, causing more pain to swell in the one-eyed god's head, making him defenseless, as Utgard Loki, approaching at soaring speeds, swung Laevateinn, the crescent moon illuminating a dark flame, and trails of black embers followed.

He was taken by surprise when Garmr appeared in his way, the beast's mouth opened and a giant ball of wind shot from his mouth right for Utgard Loki, who easily deflects the attack aside, letting it smash into the frozen grounds. Hel-chan had swooped right behind and grabbed Heimdall before their opponent could launch a second attack.

"He's too powerful," Hel-chan mumbled.

Heimdall grunted, "Range attacks won't work."

She gasped when Garmr crashed in to the ground, and Heimdall cursed, the wound of his right socket continued to bleed. They didn't have a lot of options left, if either of them had any, and seconds were wasting away if they didn't get Famine into the trunk of Yggdrasil soon, because Mayura couldn't begin without a beacon.

"Hel, you have to leave me," he told her, but before she could object, he continued, "I'll make an opening for you. Just get Famine ready."

"Heimdall-san," she pursed her lips, and as much as she hated to leave him in such a weakened state, he appeared to have a plan, so she landed on the ground again and let him down. She took flight again, recalling that the dagger had fallen from her hand at one of the large roots. "Garmr!" she called to her guardian beast, "Help Heimdall-san!"

Garmr climbed to his feet again, shaking himself from his momentary daze, as Heimdall, fighting against the mental anguish, charged for Utgard Loki, who stood conceitedly at the base of the tree. He threw off his thick gloves, revealing long, sharp claws that could slice through anything, and shouted, "GJALLAR!"

* * *

Loki's white flames crashed against a golden shield, and he jumped back just as the sword was raised into the air by Tyr's hand. He saw the smirk on Baldur's face as Tyr stood in front of the haughty god, protectively and fully armed for battle. He recognized the legendary sword, Tyrfing, that never missed a strike and could cut through stone or iron like it was cloth. Knowing how formidable the weapon was, Loki couldn't fight against the god in his incomplete state.

"HO~RYAAAAAH!"

Following the familiar battle cry of Narugami, the wooden Mjollnir came crashing down upon Tyr's shield, and still in mid-air, Narugami kicked his right leg into Tyr's head, but it didn't even faze the large god. He leapt away before Tyr could attack, being rather slow on that take, and landed next to Loki, in a kneeling position. He looked up to his friend, grinning apologetically, with a short salute, "Sorry, Loki."

Before Loki could ask about Mayura, he stood up and tightened Megingjoro around his head, "I left her in good hands."

They quickly glanced over to Yggdrasil's trunk, where the girl stood, surrounded protectively by Jormungand and Fenrir, who bravely fought against the many Valkyries. Fenrir slammed his body against a group of them while Jormungand, who had coiled himself around the tree and Mayura, sprayed acid from his mouth, injuring many of their enemies.

"Thor!" Baldur called his brother, "You have betrayed your word as a god! You know the consequences of breaking an oath!"

"My promise," Narugami stood tall and proud, with Mjollnir faithful at his side, "first..." he raised the sword in front of him and gripped the hilt with both hands, "BELONGS TO SENSEI! TO MAKE HIM PROUD!"

He honored his words to his master first and foremost, the mortal who accepted a wandering god into his home without question, who treated him more like a son and family than his own blood relations.

"RYAAAAH~!"

Narugami ran forward with sword high over head and swung it down, clashing against the metal of the Tyrfing, but amazingly the wooden Mjollnir could withstand the legendary sword. Even Narugami's own strength was on par with the all powerful and all muscly Tyr, who was known for his brawn than brains, so this was a competition of pure strength, but the sight of a bulky, nine-foot tall god pitted against the five-feet-ten-inches junior god was a bit comical.

* * *

"Freya-sama!" one of the Valkyries addressed the goddess of beauty, "You're one of the great goddesses of Asgard! We wish not to raise a hand against you, so please surrender!"

The blonde goddess, floated in the air, wearing her cloak of falcon feathers, flipped her hair in a snobbish manner, "It's too late for that." She sighed, "And besides, Baldur has gotten on my bad side! He wants to hurt my dear Loki! And I will not forgive him!"

She waved a hand in front of her, and several feathers appeared and flew straight at the Valkyries, who easily evaded them but were still hesitant on attacking the goddess. But apparently they had no qualms about fighting her brother, chasing poor Freyr, riding on a giant Gullinbursti, with much hate and disdain.

"KILL THE USELESS MALE!" a random Valkyrie cried and charged at him with a spear.

Freya sweatdropped at her fleeing brother and shouted at him, "Nii-sama! Fight back with more pride please!"

"Easy for you to say," Freyr flailed, "They're not after your head!"

She rolled her eyes, "Nii-sama, isn't there something you want to protect?! Fight for that!"

He stopped and blinked, remembering that his precious Yamato Nadeshiko was depending on him too. "That's right! For Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko!" he stood up on a sweatdropping Gullinbursti and raised his wand into the air with oodles of drama, "LOVELY FREYR TRANSFORMATION!"

Freya's shoulders slumped forward tiresomely after witnessing her brother's most embarrassing moment ever and sighed that his transformation just earned a huge bull's eye on his back. She summoned the power from her Brisingamen necklace, radiating a beautiful, golden light that spread across the skies, engulfing a few of the Valkyries, charming them into hopeless admirers of the goddess.

"Freya-sama~!" the female warriors gushed with hearts in their eyes.

"Nii-sama, you so owe me one!" she shouted as she fled from her groupie.

* * *

From the dark skies, Gjallar flew down right for Utgard Loki, only to be smacked away, but it gave Garmr a chance to run for an attack or two, which were deflected again. Heimdall jumped on to a large root and ran along it, managed to avoid a few shots of black fireballs. He ducked and leapt across to a different root until he was close enough to swipe his claws at Utgard Loki.

Just a mere second difference, and he missed the doppelganger, who had teleported behind him. Heimdall clenched his teeth and swung behind him, just to miss again, and he tried a few more times till his claws clashed against Laevateinn. Utgard Loki's free hand grabbed Heimdall by the neck, dangling him at arm's length as he slowly squeezed his fingers around his throat, promising an agonizing death.

"Not a heroic death," he shrugged with a bored, careless expression, "but it will do."

"Heh," Heimdall managed to get out a smirk and screamed out, "DO IT, HEL!"

Heimdall braced for the impact when the blade of Famine cut through a few strands of his violet hair, mere centimeters from his neck, but the metal pierced right through the chest of a surprised Utgard Loki, struck dead center of his heart and through his back and continued into the trunk of the Yggdrasil tree.

Laevateinn fell to the ground and disappeared.

Blood seeped through the wound, soaking the garments and spreading fast, and the crimson liquid also dripped from his mouth and eyes, a complete bloody mess mixing with what appeared to be a dull earth tone of his flesh. The hand around Heimdall's neck was losing its grip, crumbling into fine sand, enough for the god to wretch out of his grasp, and he fell back to the ground, revealing Hel-chan, still kneeling far below them, by the roots' end. She held the hilt of the dagger within her hands, but the blade had extended far into the distance, impaling all the targets, and barely sparing Heimdall, but he was sure a bad haircut was the least of his worries.

Utgard Loki's figure was dissipating into the air, returning to his origins, the hand full of earth from Jotunheim, with the dark magic also fading away, and leaving behind the one thing that neither belonged to the dark elves of Alfheim nor the trickster god Loki.

"Heimdall-san..." Hel-chan breathed out, watching the stoic one-eyed god stare down at his most sought after prize, his right eye laying just a foot away from him. Her green eyes soon focused on Yggdrasil in the background, beginning to glow a bright, shimmering white.

* * *

Loki brought up a shield of flames in surprise at Baldur's strike against his barrier, the latter grinning in triumphant at the shock on the blonde's face, staring at the tip of the legendary spear, Gungnir, that everyone knew belonged to Odin. Loki, deadpanned, stared at the young god, "You stole Odin's own spear?"

Odin's favorite son scoffed, "Why must you phrase it so boorishly. I merely borrowed it from father when he was preoccupied elsewhere."

The blonde sweatropped, "So you stole it when Odin was in the bathroom."

At such a ridiculous insult (of a very true statement), Baldur ground his teeth and gripped the spear shaft tighter, and with a turn of the weapon, he forced the sharp end through Loki's wall of flames, shattering the barrier and forcing the god to sidestep from the tip that was aiming for his chest.

The sudden illumination from Yggdrasil alerted everyone, halting every single action about to take place - from the Valkyries in mid-flight chasing the siblings, out of love and/or hate, to Tyr about to get a whack from Mjollnir to his nether region and a flash of lightning appearing from the tip of Gungnir - because serious shit, if the whole battle wasn't serious enough as it was, was about to happen.

"Kill the mortal girl!" Baldur ordered of his army of Valkyries and maybe a Tyr if he was free after his fight against Narugami, because she was going to be the end of things if she wasn't eliminated... like right now!

* * *

"Yamino-san!"

Mayura cried as the Valkyries were able to get close enough to injure him, but Fenrir rushed to his aid, ramming his furious head right into two of them, sending them into the distance. She was about to run to the giant snake protecting her and Yggdrasil, but what could she do to help him?

And besides, Yggdrasil was now glowing. Hel-chan had told her that she could begin when the obvious change in the tree occurred, which meant that the goddess, with Heimdall's aid, was able to set the beacon that would begin and end all their troubles. At that thought, she couldn't help the bit of sadness that crept into her heart, but she didn't regret the decision she had made, to be a part of this plan, to be useful to Loki and the others who were fighting so hard for her.

Yes, her precious (immortal) friends put their lives on the line to protect her, and she couldn't be selfish anymore. Her happiness was of little importance against the hearts of so many others at stake, in this field of war. She was happy with the short amount of time they shared, but it was time to let them go, let him go.

She was willing to do this for their sake, and she wanted them to know that.

Her mother once told her that there would be very sad times in her life, like when one had to say farewell to someone important and never see them again. It would be difficult to bear, but that was a part of life and growing up. However far apart two people might be, there was a deep bond that could never be broken and memories that could never be forgotten, and she had to do was believe and never give up her smiles.

_'Eleven years ago,'_ Mayura closed her eyes, remembering Hel-chan's gentle words from the bus ride, _'I met a very gentle soul. Whenever I would visit her, she always hummed this beautiful tune. I asked her what the song was, and if there were words to it, but she would just smile and say... that one day, I will hear the lyrics from her inspiration._

_'Mayura-san, let the gods hear the song that she entrusted to you.'_

When she opened her lovely, crimson eyes again, she was confident and resolute, standing tall and shimmering as brightly as the radiant Yggdrasil behind her, with both hands clasped over her heart, quietly thanking her mother with a gentle smile. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, hoping that her feelings would be conveyed to those dear to her.

* * *

(Cue music...)

Baldur really shouldn't have shouted that direct, authoritative order so loudly, especially when his opponent was a very pissed off Loki, whose eyes were no longer the calm, green color but a fiery, dangerous, 'how dare you target my love interest because you're just asking for a death wish' red right now.

A sudden flare of immense power made the ever nervous Baldur, drenching in his own perspiration (and maybe urine if he lacked any bodily control) because a badass Loki had just regained the rest of his powers, which meant that Utgard Loki in Niflheim had been defeated.

_o/` Why? The sadness,_

_o/` I can see it deep in your eyes._

A sphere of white flames engulfed the trickster god, swirling and expanding around him, forcing Baldur to immediately retreat with the divine protection of Gungnir to hold back to the intense heatwave threatening to burn him alive, a hundred times over.

_o/` Voice, my voice,_

_o/` Praying someday it will reach your heart._

Mayura's voice, strong and beautiful, flowed across the vast battlefield, reaching the ears of all who heard, allies and enemies alike, but the words held more meaning to her friends, even those who were unwilling to admit how the mortal's existence had reached his/her heart too.

_o/` Memories of you and me,_

_o/` So many I hold in my heart._

Standing in front of Yggdrasil, she began to shine a warm light along side the legendary tree, and the many jars and containers of the gods, holding all the captive _jaki_ they had captured, suddenly appeared around her.

_o/` When we smile or cry our tears,_

_o/` These are the times we won't forget._

The shell of wild, white flames exploded into the sky, and the ever handsome and powerful Loki reappeared, in his formal Asgard clothes, with Laevateinn in his right hand, and a pair of beautiful, white wings sprouted from his back.

_o/` With your eyes to the sky, take this gentle breeze off to another day._

_o/` And we'll keep this feeling in our beating hearts, embracing love and warmth._

All the _jaki_ containers shattered, and the evil spirits spiral into the Yggdrasil tree.

_o/` Though things will bring us down, and there will be times our smiles can't stop the pain,_

_o/` You and I, together, we will be all right._

Heimdall gazed down at his right eye, cradled safely within his clawed hands, with an uncharacteristic expression of great relief and joy at its final return to him, but the public display of his raw emotions didn't bother him at this point. Even Gjallar, perched on his left shoulder, was happy for his master.

_o/` Fine. Every time,_

_o/` You throw all of your troubles away,_

Hel-chan, with Garmr at her side, stood in front of the Yggdrasil tree - the dagger Famine still stabbed in the trunk - with a hand held to her heart, gazing at the intense, vibrant change of colors flickering madly from the absorption of the _jaki_ into the system. She turned around and looked up to the dark skies of Niflheim and smiled, because Mayura's powerful voice had drifted into the frozen realm.

_o/` Heart, your heart_

_o/` Will grow strong with each step of the way._

Freya twirled in the air, a deadly spin shooting out an explosion of feathers around her, towards the smitten Valkyries.

_o/` In the sky, I feel so new,_

_o/` Holding the strength of the sun._

Then with a wave of his magical wand, Freyr blasted through another group of them, while an angry Gullinbursti charged into a few that were sneaking up behind his oblivious master.

_o/` In your heart, don't you feel it_

_o/` Burning like a deep sensation?_

A beaten up and bruised Narugami wiped the blood from his mouth, as he gathered all his remaining strength and charged at an equally injured, giant Tyr, both gods being unarmed now, in a final attack with just their fists. Thrilled with such a intense battle, the god of thunder smiled.

_o/` Even if the tears flow and the pain still hurts, never give up your dreams._

_o/` Forget all that's standing in our endless path, and believe in a smile._

Fenrir caught a spear with his mouth and used it to slash their flying enemies as he rushed at him while Jormungand unwound himself from the Yggdrasil tree and whipped his tail at a group of Valkyries, sending them straight to the ground.

_o/` The door of light will just be a reach away, don't ever be afraid._

_o/` I'm so sure, I'm so sure we will be all right._

"Why are you letting this happen?!" Baldur growled as he fended off the strike of Laevateinn, "That mortal will throw all of Asgard into chaos!"

Loki smirked, having no trouble pushing his opponent back, "Don't you know?"

With a surge of power through Laevateinn, the force pushed Baldur back. Without hesitation, Loki raised his staff into the air and answered the confused god, "I'm also the god of chaos!"

He brought Laevateinn down, ablazed with the divine, white flame of the god of fire, against Gungnir, the immense power knocking the spear out of Baldur's hand, leaving him defenseless. The spear spun through the air and then stabbed into the ground a distance away from the two gods.

A panicky Baldur stumbled back to avoid Loki's giant fireball crashing into the spot that he had stood earlier. The explosion momentarily dazed him, but the few seconds was enough for Loki to burst through the flames to surprise him, the crescent moon ornament crashed into Baldur's chest, cracking a few ribs.

Blood spluttered from his mouth as the defeated god slammed in to the ground, skidding painfully through a long stretch of earth.

_o/` With our precious mem'ries, we'll keep wandering till we find our future_

_o/` And see what surprises lie before us, to take within our hands._

While the many fights continued across the field of Yggdrasil, Mayura's voice held strong and steady, reaching far across the Nine Worlds, connecting all of them together by one great tree and the strength of one mortal girl's pure soul.

The once clear skies began to twinkle with mysterious lights, from hundreds to thousands... to millions.

_o/` Though the road will be long and filled with harm, we'll be together._

_o/` With this map of our dreams, nothing can stop us..._

She lifted her eyes into the skies as the lights of various colors accumulated and soared through the air, heading straight for Yggdrasil.

_o/` With our eyes to the sky, take this gentle breeze off to another day. _

_o/` And we'll keep this feeling in our beating hearts, embracing love and warmth._

The largest mass of _jaki_ ever to be collected at one time - according to the records of Asgard - danced above them and funneled right into the core of the Yggdrasil System, like a deadly virus infiltrating a network of computers, disrupting everything within its system.

_o/` Though things will bring us down, and there will be times our smiles can't stop the pain,_

_o/` You and I, together, we will be all right._

With the absorption of so many evil spirits, the light display of Yggdrasil continued to pulsate at rapid rates until the whole network overloaded and a burst of blinding light blasted into the sky, engulfing the whole landscape, including all the realms that Yggdrasil reached, especially in Asgard, into its bright light.

* * *

The sun was just rising over the horizon of Tokyo, beginning the new day of a new week, the golden color washing over the stillness of morning life, as a quiet Mayura walked home, alone. Her small figure plastered against the light of day, her head hung low, the shadows hiding her emotions from the world, as she stared at the ground, step by step, the sound of her solemn footsteps coincided with the steady beat of her heart.

Somehow, she made it back to her home, safely.

Of course, it was safe - no more dangers, no more battles, no more gods - just a normal morning for an average mortal.

She walked up each step of the stairway, not skipping a single one, leading to the shrine and her home. Each move of her foot seemed to drag, feeling heavy, an invisible burden in her heart.

She stopped at the top and looked across the empty stretch of land that once was filled with many familiar faces, their laughter and their shouting, the many voices that made this place so alive. But now, it was just her standing in such a lonesome place.

As if to remind her of how alone she was now, only the silence greeted her, not a single chirp from a bird or the busyness of squirrels. The cool breeze picked up, and she shivered from the morning's low temperature - having left the previous day without a jacket. She wrapped her arms around herself, in a sort of solitary comfort, refusing to head to the house, afraid that she would lose her last memory of them if she left.

She didn't want to cry and braved herself to stay strong, for their sake.

"Mayura?"

At the call of her name, she whipped her head around with eagerness, but the brightness of her face fell when it was just the sight of her father. He saw the heartbroken expression of her face and dropped the two suitcases before running up to her. The last time he saw such a sorrowful look was when his wife had passed away, and he quickly pulled his daughter into his arms, quietly wondering what had happened while he was gone.

"Mayura," he cradled her gently, a light rock back and forth, but she wasn't crying, just shaking in his arms. He kissed the top of her head, worried and afraid to ask. Ever since the night before, when he tried to call home and no one answered , especially when there were four mobile phones and a house full of people, he knew he had to get on the next flight and train home immediately.

"Did something happen?" he finally asked the inevitable, "Where's Loki? Yamino-san? Narugami-kun? The others?"

With her head resting against her father's chest, she closed her eyes, the moistness at the edge of her eyes. "Papa," she sniffled, "They're gone..."

"Gone?" he blinked, "What do you mean?"

"They returned home..."

"..."

* * *

That evening, Daidouji sat in the kitchen, his hands clasped together on the table surface, and he stared at his hands, lost in thought, trying to make sense of everyone's sudden departure, that had left Mayura all alone and heartbroken. At one point, he had become so enraged at their insensitivity, but his daughter just shook it off, mumbling that it was her fault in the first place and that it was the right thing to do.

She even tried to smile, to show that she was going to be all right, because had it not always been just the two of them. It was just returning to the way things were before, before that fateful day.

He looked up when he heard footsteps and got out of his chair and entered the hallway. He was surprised to see his daughter up and about, in a loose, navy blouse and a pair of jeans - after insisting that she get some sleep that morning - slipping on her shoes, "Mayura, why aren't you getting more rest?"

She looked at him with a pout in an attempt to hide her sadness, "Papa! I can't sleep all day!"

"Then, where are you going?"

"For a walk," she put on her other shoe before straightening, "I just need some fresh air, papa."

"Hmm," he sounded hesitant, not wanting his obviously emotional girl to be walking the streets alone, but she appeared adamant about, "well... at least take your phone."

She gave him a small grin and pulled out her phone from the back of her denim pocket, and the man sweatdropped and added, "Well, don't stay out too long. I'm making your favorite for dinner."

Her grin faded into a small, grateful curl of her lips, "Thank you, papa."

She walked to the door and opened it. "I'm off then!" she announced with forced cheer and went quietly through the doorway.

Daidouji could only watch sadly, praying that whatever god is up there would watch over his daughter and make her smile once more.

* * *

Mayura had no destination in mind, just letting her feet carry her to wherever. She was so listless, walking about like a dazed zombie, oblivious to the few people around her and even the several places she passed by, from the park where she met Freyr to the spot she bumped into Fenrir. She eventually crossed the road where Narugami had saved her from a truck and then strolled by the tea shop that she browsed through with Yamino, following part of the path that Kazumi had lead her along into his little trap.

She made a few more turns, passing the spot where she had seen Freya snatch up Loki into a hug, which was just two blocks from the fancy boutique. Walking along that road, she didn't notice the cafe with delicious pastries that she enjoyed with Hel-chan.

About fifteen minutes later, she was quite far from home, pretty much at the other side of the district, just a few meters from the amusement park that she and Loki spent the whole day at, when her phone rang. She stopped and sighed, pulling the device from her pocket. Without looking at the screen to check the caller's ID, she opened it and brought it to her ear. With such a lifeless voice, she greeted with a soft 'moshi moshi'...

"Mayura?" came a familiar, worried voice, but it didn't registered in her brain.

"Yes?" she responded with another lethargic sigh, her gaze drifting upwards to the bright lights of the ferris wheel of the amusement park.

"Is that any way to greet me?" the tone was now playful.

Mayura blinked, "Eh?"

"Won't you give me something livelier?" the caller teased.

"Erm..."

"I was expecting a more cheerful greeting," she heard the sigh, no longer sounding like it was coming from the phone, but much closer, more crisp and clear. She turned to her right and dropped the hand holding the phone to her side, garnet eyes agape at the person standing about five meters away. A phone in his hand while the other in his pocket, and a sweet, handsome smile on his soft expression as he gazed at her, his emerald pools drinking in her appearance as if he hadn't seen her in months.

Her feet began to move on their own as her mind tried to process the situation, but neither connected until she stood right in front of him, still in shock, holding the phone to her chest, staring into his face as if trying to remember all of his beautiful features once more.

"Am I... dreaming?" she whispered.

His smile grew wider, and the laughter twinkled in his green eyes. He had already slipped his phone back into his pocket and brought both of his hands to her face. She recognized a flicker of mischief in those playful orbs before she felt her cheeks being tugged apart. She winced in pain, the proof that she wasn't dreaming at all, and cried out, "Mou, Loki-sama!"

Loki laughed and let her cheeks go, so he could throw his eager arms around her and crush her defenseless body to him. He could still feel her fuming in his arms and rubbed his cheek lovingly against the softness of her pink hair - how he missed the feeling of her in his arms, her warmth, her fragrance, just all of her. This single moment reuniting with her made the many months in Asgard worth the fight, to remind him that this was what real heaven felt like, his own personal heaven.

He felt her arms encircling around his torso, her hands grasping the fabric of his coat in desperation, her voice having ached for him in less than twenty-four hours - as incomparable as time was in his hell in Asgard, the pain and suffering of separation that she had endured was just as indescribable as his own.

"Loki-sama..."

Her sweet voice was so pleasant to his ears, a deep yearning within her heart, and he smiled into her hair, inhaling her scent deeply, needing to fill his senses with her. And he found his own voice calling out to her with mutual affections, "Mayura...

"I missed you..."

* * *

**Notes:** Um, I had most of this typed over the weekend, lol, so pardon any mistakes... and the really long chapter. I debated whether to split this up or not, but I was like 'nooo, I want all of it together' so just think of this as the hour long episode? Lol.

Sorry for all the drama and the sprinkling of a bit of humor throughout if you didn't like it. *eyes watering* I was almost tugging out my hair at how much angst I was putting in... to one of my more light-hearted pieces! I'm not sure if you're all mad at the ending... *hides behind a sweatdropping Narugami* but this was how I had planned it to end, lol... *sweatdrops*

So this chapter concludes SEASON ONE! *wipes the sweat off her forehead* Yes, season one because I tend to treat these as anime-like episodes, lol. I've been brainstorming Season two since last night, which is why I'm running on five hours of sleep, lol! So really, the story is not over? Lol... okay, I need to stop laughing right now.

Thank you so much for everyone who have read and review! I really appreciate all the wonderful, kind words and your support over the years and this month of July! Especially Gin Nanashi, whose reviews made me laugh and smile and inspired me to get to this point! Please look forward to Season two in the future! *smiles and bows deeply* -kuro.


	29. Chapter 29

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Twenty-Nine.**

The red number twenty-eight, in such a fancy style of writing, was staring right back at the pink-haired student from its spot on the piece of paper that appeared to be a math exam, and a lot of red marks was scattered across it, leaving a very unhappy Mayura to walk home from school. Worried and depressed over the low score, she wasn't sure how her father would react to it, but she knew he wasn't going to be happy either.

Maybe if she came up with a good excuse for the failure, like aliens abducting her so she didn't have time to study, or a ghost possessed her and it wasn't a very smart ghost... or a witch cursed her to do terrible on the exams, in one particular subject...

Which one would her father believe in?

Not able to decide, she, in frustration, gave up and crumpled the paper in to a ball within her hands and tossed it carelessly over her shoulder. The wadded test soared through the air and right onto someone's blonde head, bouncing off his cute noggin and right into his hands - this was all too familiar!

Oh look, Loki, who was out walking Fenrir, uncrumpled the paper and smoothed it out to see what was the cause of the girl's turmoil and chuckled, "Really? A twenty-eight?"

Mayura turned around at the sound of his voice, looking horrified and embarrassed, quickly snatching the paper of humiliation from his hands, as Fenrir snickered, 'Geez, I knew daddy's girlfriend wasn't the brightest, but...'

Her face flushed red - not sure of it was Fenrir's girlfriend comment or the one referring to her level of intelligence - as she flailed her arms, one hand waving the test paper while the other holding her school bag, at their amusement, "I-I've just been distracted lately!"

The puppy snorted, 'How do you expect to help daddy with these terrible grades!'

"Hmm," Loki tilted his head to the side, looking up to the blue skies thoughtfully, "Fenrir's right. Maybe you shouldn't be my assistant after all..."

"No!" she blurted at him in panic, with two clenched fists where one had crushed her exam into a useless paper wad again, "I'm your lovely, detective assistant! So you should at least be more supportive!" She began to flail her arms again, but Loki grabbed a wrist, which calmed her down just a bit, and pulled her along, down the street, with his faithful son by their side.

Mayura was still worried, filled with pure dread, and he didn't like having her cute features marred with unpleasantness. "Mou!" she whined, fearing the reveal of her grade to her father, "Papa's gonna really put me in cram school when he sees this!"

"Hm, maybe I can help you," the blonde god suggested with a sly grin, chuckling into his free hand.

She stopped walking to give him a really bright, enthusiastic smile and then stared at him for a few seconds, brows now furrowing to a point. He blinked innocently at her uncharacteristic, quiet reaction, and she told him flat out, "No thanks!" She started walking again, and since he still had a hold on her wrist, he followed, as she continued to speak, "Because it's Loki-sama offering! You are most likely thinking of embarrassing me, or maybe you want a reward for your 'good' deed."

As grateful as she would be with his help, she knew him well enough that he was devious and knew of his infamous title as a trickster god. There was no way she was going to let him have his way and bully her, so she childishly stuck out her tongue at him, slipping out of his unwilling grasp, and hurried ahead.

She turned around with a big grin and a wave, "I'm heading home first!"

And off, Mayura went, to face her doomed fate, leaving a moody Loki behind and Fenrir chortled loudly, 'She sure knows you well, daddy!'

Loki grumbled, "Fenrir, you're not helping."

* * *

Mayura sneaked in to her home, quietly shutting the door behind her, and after taking her shoes off, she carefully tiptoed across the floor, but being someone with an attraction for trouble and just pure bad luck, she bumped into the side table, knocking the a small vase over.

"Mayura? You're home?" came her father's voice from the kitchen.

She sweatdropped, having no choice but to answer him, "Y-Yes, I'm home, papa..."

She glanced to the stairs, wondering if she had enough time to make a run for it... Oh screw thinking! Just run! Yeah, run right into her father exiting the kitchen, wiping his hands dry on a towel, but she had put on her brakes just in time, smiling up to him nervously.

He raised a brow at his daughter's suspicious agitation, so he had to inquire immediately, "How was the math test?"

The tiny sweatdrops by the side of her head appeared to have doubled in amount with each passing second until the man could take no more of the stalling and held out his hand for the test. Her left eye twitched uncomfortably, along with the corner of her nervous smile, wondering if she should test out her excuses, which were too farfetched for her father to believe in.

"Ano," she was sweating so much that she might need a shower after this, "Fenrir ate it?"

His flat expression told her he was not amused at all, and his hand remained still in its spot of waiting for the results, so she resigned to her doomed fate and dug in to her pocket for the crumpled exam. Instead of smoothing it out, she plopped the wad into his hand, and he frowned. He flattened the paper out, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head - commence freaking out.

She flinched from his loud tone as she brought up her school bag as a defensive shield till her father could calm down. When he was done, she peeked over the bag to see him glaring at her. "Sorry, papa," she started, "I'll try harder next time!"

"Of course you will!" he stated, "At least you know how important your education is! It's a good thing I expected this..."

Okay, that did not sound good when her father declared that he expected her to fail, and the determined and proud expression on his face, accompanied by a triumphant pose, was all very ominous.

"I've already registered you in to a cram school!"

Her nightmare had come true, and she could see the light decreasing in size as she fell into an endless, black hole, "Nooooooooooo!"

"Yep, within a few weeks," Daidouji nodded, oblivious of the girl's spotlight of depression in the background, "you should pass your semester exams with flying colors!"

Somehow that was doubtful, but who had the heart to really break the man's delusional dream?

* * *

Later that evening, a beautiful European-style mansion sat among the traditional neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan. It was a lovely sight to behold, yet many questions had left the citizens wondering curiously about said building because they had never seen the place before. Or was it always there and no one bothered to notice?

Impossible! Something as gorgeous and sexy as that, any architect or mansion fanatic would take notice of it immediately! Nevermind the many 'no trespassing' and 'no loitering' and 'no soliciting' signs in the front yard to deterred unwanted visitors, but the large plaque on the gates read 'Enjaku Detective Agency,' so one really wondered if this place had any clients.

"Papa is so mean!" Mayura declared as she cut in to the delicious, juicy steak that Yamino had thrown together for dinner. After the discussion with her father, he had quickly abandoned her for a last minute exorcism, which would have left her eating dinner alone, so she decided to drop by Loki's new house for a bit of freeloading. He couldn't quite complain about, due to their past together where he was the one freeloading at her place and the enjoyment of her cute company.

Even if she was ranting about the cram school situation to him, he always found her vibrant and animated personality very refreshing.

"He's totally taking away my social life!"

Her declaration snapped Loki out of his short reverie, and he raised a curious brow in her direction, grinning, "What exactly is this social life?"

"Ano," she blushed and corrected herself, "I mean my detective assistant duties! Which reminds me, have you gotten any cool cases?" With a knife in one hand and a fork in the other, she leaned forward, eyeing him carefully, which meant that he better give her a suitable answer.

He sweatdropped, skimming through a mental list of trivial cases that neighbors had requested of him, from finding lost pets to seeking pie thieves to fixing the leak of the garden hose. Those did not qualify as cool cases for a handsome detective like him, but a job was a job, right? He had to earn some sort of living on Midgard, just as a cover his secret identity as a divine being.

Yamino spoke up, from across the table from Mayura, "We haven't opened for that long. Perhaps a bit of advertisement is needed? I've been wanting to try out the new nail gun I ordered..."

'Hell no!' Fenrir barked from his spot on the floor, just to Loki's right side, 'We don't need another mishap like last time!'

The others sweatdropped at the puppy's protest over the mail ordered product, and Mayura suggested, "Or you could remove those signs in the yard. Clients would be turned away from such a harsh, unwelcoming atmosphere!"

Loki waved it off casually, "There's no need. I prefer the privacy.

"We specialize in the supernatural and abnormal anyway. So if they're that desperate, they will have no other choice but to come to us."

"Loki-sama shouldn't be so picky," she glanced at him slyly, "Or you will become an unemployed god again."

The father and his two sons sweatdropped.

* * *

Later that night, standing on a generic building that overlooked the skyline of Tokyo, giving the setting a more somber and mysterious atmosphere and a foreshadowing of future conflicts, four figures appeared to be contemplating the new landscape. The gorgeous scenery of twinkling lights only captured the attention of one as she leaned over the side excitedly, "Wai~ it's so pre~tty~!"

Her blonde ponytail whipped side to side, trying to soak in all the cute lights, when she suddenly got yanked back by her hair by her comrade, "Fullia, pay attention!"

"Yes, Hilin-san!" she saluted to her red-head superior.

"It's chilly, cold and depressing..." came their third companion's somber voice, "but its beauty can't compare to our queen!"

Hilin smacked her the dark-haired woman, "Gina! Pull yourself together! We are here for the sake of our queen!" She turned around to the fourth person, whose cropped, neon-green hair was a bit outrageous, and bowed, "I apologize, Eir-sama, for their behaviors. Please let us handle the mission! You can entrust us with finding Baldur-sama!"

"Do so," Eir's words were short and precise, lacking any emotions, and she held no facial expression, not even reacting to the trio's little display of disunity, "I will return tomorrow for your progress."

And with those final words, Eir disappeared from sight, leaving a very angry Hilin, fist clenched at her side, while her two comrades cowered nervously on the ground, afraid of what was about to come. Hilin threw her fist aside, shouting, "Damn that Eir! She's so... so arrogant, high and mighty, looking down on us like insects! I'll show her! I'll find Baldur-sama and bring her down from her high horse! Then stomp all over her corpse! Cut her into a thousand pieces, turn her into fertilizer..."

"But Hilin-san," Gina tried to get their leader's attention back to the mission at hand, "How will we find Baldur-sama?"

Hilin folded her arms across her chest, closing her eyes in thought, "Hrm, well... we know Baldur-sama was last seen in Midgard. Let's just start here."

"Here?" the two echoed, glancing at each other.

"Yeah, here!" Hilin pointed to the spot at her feet, or below her feet, and they looked down at the concrete of the building's rooftop, "This building! We'll start by searching here! So! Here's the plan..."

As Hilin discussed the plan with them on the rooftop of a once random building that turned out to belong to an educational institution that catered to many high school students and potential college applicants, for additional studies and tutelage, so it wasn't that random after all. And what coincidence that this was the very place Daidouji signed his daughter up for, and that was how Mayura, the next afternoon, found herself standing in front of said building.

Despite having a cheerful hairstyle of two meatballs with flowy pigtails for no reason at all, she was brooding, and after a few students entered the building, she followed suit, having no other alternatives because they would be reporting in to her father if she decided to skip the classes - curse her luck! And to think, this would be her normal schedule for a month, right up until the semester exams! She was going to miss out on all the awesome cases if Loki ever decided to take one, but then again, his slothfulness right now would be much appreciated.

* * *

Loki had been reading a book when the antique phone, on the corner of his desk, rang. He marked his page and put the book down before answering it. He was surprised that Urd was calling, though a bit sooner than he had expected from Asgard. He rapped his fingers across the desk surface as he listened to every word the goddess spoke, his expression gradually changing from amusement to indifference to seriousness.

"Ah, I will certainly take that job," his fingers stopped, and he leaned forward in his chair, "Don't worry, I'll look into that matter too... Thank you, Urd."

After proper goodbyes, he placed the receiver back in to its place and stared straight ahead, wondering if they would ever get a bit of peace. After the last almost catastrophic event, he needed a vacation.

* * *

'Daddy,' Fenrir began, trotting along side his father an hour later, as they took another afternoon walk through the city. Since his father had been in his original form ever since their return to Midgard, he had been attracting a lot of unnecessary attention from the mortal population of women. He noticed there were more females today than ever, but something was also different about the day's stroll, 'are we taking a new path?'

"Ah," Loki nodded - whether he was oblivious of the love-struck eyes or chose to ignore them, he paid them no mind - and continued straight ahead, "I want to check on something."

After a few more steps, he stopped abruptly and looked around, causing Fenrir to stop too. There was a strange energy in the area, and as his eyes scanned the vicinity, nothing appeared out of the ordinary, besides the female stalkers off to the side, and he tried to pinpoint the origin.

'Daddy, I think it's coming from over there!' Fenrir, having realized what his father was searching for, growled at the building across the street, _Kawaii Ringo Academy_ - 'Cute Apple Academy,' a very misleading name for a secondary education cram school institution.

* * *

After a quick sign in, Mayura received her class information and searched for the room, and when she found it, she hesitated on entering, but she was at the point of no return. Sucking it in, she opened the door and walked inside. She counted about ten other students present, all wearing a terrible expression of fear and horror, some even cowering in the corner and she sweatdropped, thinking that it couldn't be that bad.

It was two minutes till class would begin, so she found an empty seat by the window and sat down. Just as the hour bell rang, the door suddenly flew off its hinges into the opposite wall, and Mayura gaped at it, her eyes nearly popped out. Now she was getting a bad feeling about this place, but a woman with vibrant red hair marched into the room like she was the boss, causing the other student to shrink in fear. She dropped her briefcase on the desk noisily and then proceeded to the podium at the front of the classroom.

"All right!" Hilin slammed her palms down on the podium, staring with laser-focused eyes at her pathetic group of students, "The name's Akano Hilin. I'm your new teach for... whatever class this is!"

"Math," someone in the far back had the nerve to speak up.

"Right! So I'mma start with roll call... Screw roll call! Anyone here know where Baldur-sama is?"

Wow, so this was Hilin's wonderful plan to search for the missing god? To ask anyone they come across?!

Mayura sweatdropped, now knowing for sure that this whole cram school business was bad for her health. But at the mention of Baldur, the god who had ordered her death sentence a few weeks ago, she stared at the woman and wondered if she was a goddess too and why she was looking for the god.

No one dared to answer the woman, even avoiding eye contact or any sort of contact, and Hilin scanned the room, scoffing at the weak mortals and thinking this room was another dead end, until her intense gaze fell on the strange, pink-haired student who was staring at her without any fear.

"You there!" Hilin pointed her index finger at a blinking Mayura, "You know something!"

"Ano," the girl smiled nervously, after looking around and seeing that the teacher was indeed addressing her, "I-I'm just here for math..."

"Lies! You fell in love with Baldur-sama, and when he wouldn't return your affections, you, filled with rage, were determined to get revenge! You kidnapped him and locked him away in your basement, keeping him from his loved ones! You, you terrible woman!"

At this point, everyone else had scattered out of the room, leaving a shock Mayura at the mercy of an angry goddess, because a red glowing woman did not look normal. The girl shoved her desk in to Hilin, pushing her back into the other desks, and made a run for the door, but the red-head was much faster, swiping the length of the mop down upon the desk in front of Mayura, smashing the object to pieces.

Mayura pulled back, half wondering where the mop had come from but then the woman was a goddess so anything was possible, and ducked behind another desk, only to have it destroyed. This continued for a few more seconds until a fireball incinerated the head of the mop, leaving the shaft in Hilin's hands.

"A cram school is a place for intellectual pursuit, not a brawl between beautiful women, which I prefer, but I digress…"

"Who the hell-"

Hilin started to say as both females turned towards the open door, where the voice originated from, to find Loki standing there with Laevateinn still smoking after throwing that last shot.

"Loki-sama," Mayura deadpanned, "Those were cheesy lines."

A sweatdropping Fenrir, at his father's side, barked to the mortal, 'See, daddy is a magical bishounen hero!" He added quietly afterwards, 'As embarrassing as it is.'

"LOKI?!" Hilin shouted, pointing the mop-turned-stick at the blonde god, "You're that accursed god that brought misfortune to Baldur-sama!"

He looked at her, tilting his head, trying to figure out who the woman was, but nothing came to him, "Hm, and you are?"

Hilin, sweating, knew that she was no match against a very powerful god like Loki, and even Baldur was defeated by such an evil being, so she had a very slim chance of any victory. Her best option she had was... to flee! She threw a smoke bomb to the ground, and in the explosion and confusion of everyone coughing and being blinded, she ran to the window and jumped out of it, glass shattering, disappearing from their sights.

Loki hurried to Mayura, who was still coughing, and helped her up. "Are you all right, Mayura?" he inquired, examining her for any other injuries.

She shook her head, her cute pigtails moving along with her, "No, I'm fine... but what about her? She jumped out the window!"

The god sweatdropped at the worried tone she held for their apparent enemy, while Fenrir shouted, 'This is the ground floor!'

* * *

"Mou!" Mayura sighed, even her _odango_ hairstyle was matched her mood drooping a bit, as they walked out of the cram school, after a bit of explaining and complaining about the institution hiring some crazy psycho to teach math. So to avoid any lawsuit, they overlooked any damages Mayura and her companions might have caused, "That was depressing..."

Loki blinked at his companion next to him, "I would think you'd be more happy."

"How so?" she looked at him.

"Now you can tell Mayura-papa that this place is no good," he grinned, watching her expression change from sulkiness to pure joy and excitement. He laughed and draped an arm over her shoulders, drawing her close to him, "Now that's my Mayura."

She blushed when he placed a kiss on the top of her head and then pulled back just a bit, "About earlier though, what do you think is going on?"

"Hm, she called herself 'Akano Hilin'... but the name isn't familiar at all."

She gave him a flat expression, "Loki-sama, you've been around for a long time, maybe you just forgot? I mean, she could be one of your many admirers."

"Oh?" he leaned down to her face, his arm still around her, "Is Mayu-chan jealous?"

She turned away, not able to hide her blush, "N-No! Of course n-not!"

"You're such a terrible liar," he chuckled, pulling her face back to him, but even if she was avoiding his eyes, she still looked adorable doing so.

"Okay... maybe just a little..." Her face was bright red, staring down at the ground, when she started to speak again, she peered up to his face, "Ano... Loki-sama..."

"Hm?"

"I know you'll have to leave one day..." she started, wanting to hear his voice though she was afraid to hear the truth from him, and he seemed to understand, stopping her and holding her in front of him. Fenrir, having walked ahead of them, turned around and watched.

"Mayura."

"Yes?"

"You remember what Hel told you about the Yggdrasil System?" he asked, recalling Urd's earlier phone call, and when she nodded, he continued, "It was reset to the beginning, so all wishes that had been granted were null and void."

"I know, that's why you were able to return to Asgard," she spoke quietly, not understanding where he was going with the conversation.

"Yes, but that only means," he paused and smirked, making her ever puzzled by his words - why did he always have to be so mysterious with his meaning, couldn't he just out rightly say it, "without a record of your wish, you are qualified to receive a new one."

"Eh?!" she looked at him in surprised, wondering if she had heard right, but she still didn't understand, "What do you mean?"

Fenrir slapped a paw to his head, groaning, 'Daddy, I feel sorry for you.'

Loki sweatropped and sighed, thinking how it was just like her not to comprehend the situation yet she was able to read his emotions so easily. He smiled softly and cupped her beautifully innocent face with his hands, "Daidouji Mayura, I am a god...

"Here to grant you a single wish. Anything your heart desires."

She gazed into his lovely, emerald eyes, felt herself drowning in them, and there was only one thing she ever wanted. She smiled brightly, "I wish... to be by Loki-sama's side forever!"

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, I love you guys! So here's the start of a new season! I was inspired last night to work on it! I wanted to mainly address Mayura's new wish, from her original one where she wanted someone like Loki to be by her side to her new one where she wants to be by his side! I thought it would be so sweet! *gushes at how cute the two are*

And the new characters introduced, if you have some knowledge on Norse mythology or up on it - Eir, Hlin, Gna and Fulla are all attendants to Frigg, lol. Of course I had to give them quirky traits. They'll be more developed in the next few chapters. I noticed the chapters have gotten longer, and you can probably expect that from now on. I want to finish each subplot within a chapter, like a full anime episode, lol!

And if you noticed the few tributes to _Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon_, you get cookies! I hope you guys enjoyed it! -kuro.


	30. Chapter 30

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty.**

"Mou, Loki-sama!"

Mayura sighed as she walked down the sidewalk next to the part-time detective and full-time god, after solving their latest case which involved the missing morning newspaper for the past weeks. The pink-haired girl claimed that a werewolf must have stolen it due to the partial paw prints on the mat, but it turned out that a large, stray dog had continuously taken it because the local delivery man had sugary doughnuts for breakfast, so it left a delicious trail on the news print, luring the dog every morning, bright and early.

"I had really hoped it was a werewolf!"

Loki sweatdropped - as much as she was dear to him, he sometimes wonder what really went on in her head - and stated, "There's no such thing as a werewolf, Mayura. And even if one does exist, it transforms at night with the full moon."

"Hmm..."

Okay, he did not like the sound of that and looked over to his lovely assistant, who had her nose stuck to her mobile phone. He didn't like the lack of attention from her, both being oblivious to the god's neighborhood stalkers, and snatched the phone from her hands. "Loki-sama!" she cried as he dangled the small technology in the air out of her reach, "I was checking to see if there's a full moon tonight!"

He leaned down to her, grinning, "There are better things to do at night than werewolf hunting."

She blinked, "Like a horror movie marathon?!"

Loki sighed and looked away, wondering how thick-headed this girl could be, and something caught his eye in the distance. He sidestepped with Mayura out of the way before the bicycle and its rider could run them over. The two sweatdropped at the cyclist, who braked right in front of them, "Narugami?!"

"Yo!" the god of thunder grinned and saluted, and their eyes went from his face to the bicycle then to the metal box sitting right behind his seat, "What a coincidence seeing you two here!"

"I should be saying that to you," said Loki, crossing his arms over his chest, "Last I remember, you were happy to be back in Asgard."

Narugami sweatdropped, "Well uh, things changed."

"Narugami-kun is acting very suspicious!" Mayura noted, hands on her hips, which earned her a pat on the head from a grinning Loki on her good observation skills.

"Okay okay," the brunette motioned for the two to come closer to him and leaned in, whispering, "I... ran away!"

"We can see that," the blonde god said dryly, seeing as his best friend had left Asgard and returned to Midgard, willingly this time, "But why?"

"From what?" Mayura's brows wrinkled in concentration, and Narugami squirmed uncomfortably, mumbling something akin to a marriage. "A WHAT?!"

"An arranged marriage!" he shouted, earning curious looks from passersby at the pretty trio in the middle of the sidewalk, "Ever since that battle, there were rumors that I bested the great Tyr! Now a bunch of goddesses are stalking me!" Then he pointed at Loki, "It got worse after YOU left! I've become their new target!"

Loki rolled his eyes, with no sympathy whatsoever for his friend trying to blame it all on him, "That's a very cowardly act for a god of your status to do."

"Hey! I enjoy my bachelor life very much, thanks!"

Mayura placed a comforting hand on Narugami's shoulder, "I understand your pain, Narugami-kun! To be forced to do something you don't want to! It's unbearable!"

"Daidouji," the god sniffled, moved deeply by a fellow comrade.

"Mayura," Loki sighed, "Cram school is different from an arranged marriage."

"GYAH! I'M LATE! I gotta deliver this!" he started to pedal away, "See you guys later!" He picked up speed and left his friends eating the dust of his two-wheeled transportation. They watched him disappear down the street, taking note of the name of the restaurant off the back of his uniform.

"Ah! I'm getting hungry!" Mayura exclaimed, "Why don't we get a quick snack before going home?"

He looked down to her and smirked, "If you wanted a date, all you had to do was ask."

"Nevermind!" she cried, blushing, and hurried away, with a laughing Loki at her heels, "Nothing beats Yamino-san's food anyway!"

* * *

The next morning was a lovely Saturday, and sleeping in an extra few hours was a great feeling. Sometimes it was good to be a teenager, especially when here life was now falling back into its normal routine, but that particular morning, she was surprised to see Narugami, in Shinto wear, at the shrine, sweeping the pathway of leaves, twigs and debris. His traditional wear clashed against her modern attire of a ruffly, floral tank top and a purple skirt, her hair in two ponytails.

She walked over to him, ponytails bouncing along, greeting him cheerfully, "Good morning, Narugami-kun!"

"Morning, Daidouji," he smiled, still attending to his chore faithfully.

"I didn't expect you to return here."

"Ah, you and sensei have helped me big time, so I just wanted to repay the debt."

"Are you staying with us again?"

"Nah, I don't want to intrude on you guys anymore." He mumbled to himself, "Don't think Loki would like it either..."

"What was that?"

He stopped sweeping for a moment and looked at her, "Eh, I gotta show father that I can take care of myself. I don't need a wife!" He threw a fist into the air and shook it at the skies for more emphasis.

"So you're really doing all right?" Mayura appeared worried about her friend's state of living.

"Yep," he gave her a reassuring smile, "I got some part time jobs covering my living expenses. Oh! That reminds me," he dug into his pockets and pulled out some tickets, giving them to her, "These are free coupons from my employer's place. I meant to give them to you guys yesterday.

"Anyway, I gotta finish these chores and get to my next job!"

Mayura watched him running off to the back of the shrine and then looked at the coupons in her hand, smiling, thinking about inviting Loki and the others out for lunch. She had a feeling that it was going to be a good day and totally skipped off with her hair bouncing after her.

* * *

"Fullia! Hurry and get these plates! They're getting cold!" Hilin was screaming through the small window, from the back of kitchen. She then turned around to see the slow Gina was attempting to chop the vegetables and sweatdropped when her comrade nicked her finger with the knife, because her long bangs were in the way, and her reaction was just a deadpanned stare at the squirt of blood.

She waved her wounded finger into the air, "I bleed for my beloved queen!"

"Gina! I don't need you bleeding all over my food!"

Hilin was loud enough that te whole restaurant in the front could hear her, earning a lot of tiny sweatdrops over the crowd, and they wondered if it was all right to continue to eat the food, first checking to see if any missing fingers were in their meals.

"I can't believe I'm stuck back here with these idiots!" Hilin complained, receiving more glares from the kitchen staff, including the poor guy who was chasing Gina down so he could bandaged the wound, without getting blood all over the place.

Fullia bounced back and forth from the front of the restaurant to the kitchen, happily with her waitressing job and completely oblivious of her red-haired superior's boiling anger. Hilin grabbed the blonde's ponytail, preventing her from leaving, and seized the plate in her hands so she could stop eating the customers' food!

Hilin glared menacingly down to her, "Did you find Baldur-sama yet?!"

"Nope!" she blinked and then added as an afterthought, "But I did find some cute guys!"

Fullia earned a smack to the head from their commander while Gina, now with her a bandaged finger, asked monotonously, "Why did we get jobs at a restaurant?"

Hilin sighed and straightened her posture, prepared to tell them the reason, in the middle of the kitchen, where the rest of the staff were trying to do their jobs in running half the restaurant. They wondered how these three women ever got hired in the first place, besides for their good looks.

"Baldur-sama loves to eat!" she declared, "There's no way he can pass up a good meal like this!

"But we have to be careful. That evil Loki is in the neighborhood, and we mustn't let Baldur-sama fall into his clutches again!" She pointed to them, "If any of us get captured, we are to reveal NOTHING! Commit homicide if you must!"

"Don't you mean suicide?" Gina questioned.

Hilin coughed into her fist, "Or that."

* * *

That afternoon, Mayura held Fenrir in her arms as she walked with Loki and Yamino to the restaurant that Narugami worked at, which relieved Yamino's lunch duty for the day, allowing them to enjoy a family outing together. They followed the address and came upon a small ramen eatery inserted in between a flower shop and a udon restaurant in a popular market area. It was a family run business, with a tight fit of a kitchen and bar counter on one side while the other side had a row of small booths for groups of four. The front entrance opened up directly into the streets so the customers could get a market ambiance of the neighborhood.

They were seated into one of the booths by a young woman, who sweetly complimented on Mayura's cute appearance. The girl blushed as she scooted into the booth with Fenrir, and a smiling Loki sat down next to her, across from them was Yamino. Mayura handed the coupons to the woman, who was surprised to see them, and explained, "Our friend, Narugami-kun, suggested we stop by."

"Ah! Narugami-san! He's such a hard worker!" she gushed and began to tell them about her husband, who normally helped his father in the kitchen and did the deliveries to nearby customers, had sprained an ankle, and luckily Narugami had been their to help them out until his full recovery.

"That's just like Narugami-kun!" Mayura smiled.

"I'm sure the free food helped," Loki mumbled to himself.

"Let me know when you're ready to order!"

Mayura opened the menu up as Fenrir stood up, leaning on the table, as he pawed at the list of delicious ramen, not able to decide what he wanted, even though he wanted to eat them all. The girl scanned the description, wondered what sort of flavors would hit the spot on a Saturday afternoon until her eyes fell upon the _tonkotsu_ ramen dish - a blend of pork and chicken stock with thick noodles, topped with mountain vegetables, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, scallions, slow-cooked pork belly, egg and seaweed.

'That one!' Fenrir cried excitedly, and his paw had smacked the same dish that Mayura had chosen, 'The _kuma_-size bowl!'

"Ano," the girl sweatdropped, "That's their largest bowl, Fenrir. Are you sure-" She had to stop there because asking if the puppy was certain he could finish the gigantic portion was a rhethoric question. She shook the thought away and asked what the others were having.

So when the waitress returned, two orders of the tonkotsu - one regular size, one bear size - along with Loki's extreme spicy ramen, where the chicken was made with the house special chili sauce, topped with some vegetables and bean sprout and seaweed too, and Yamino's _shoyu_ ramen, braised pork belly with scallions, roasted seaweed, a soy sauce flavored soft-boiled egg in a mixture of pork, chicken and vegetable stock, adding a side of pressed garlic.

"Loki-sama," Mayura started, glancing to the blonde god carefully, "the special chili is very, VERY spicy..."

"I know," he just smiled enigmatically, because what sort of god of fire was he if he couldn't stand some spiciness in his food and life! And besides, he was up for the challenge, whatever the mortal culinary experts could throw at him, he would gladly accept, and he was hungry.

* * *

After his chores at the shrine, Narugami was on his way to work at the ramen shop when he suddenly bumped into a pretty, familiar blonde, named Fullia, carrying two trash bags in her hands. She appeared to be lost, so being a god of thunder, justice and aiding the every day common man, he stopped to help her. Apparently she was told by her superior to take the trash out to the back of the restaurant, but she somehow managed to loop around the block and ended up far from where she was supposed to be.

Narugami sweatdropped and took the bags from her hand and stuffed them into the nearest trashcan he found. "There you go, all done," he puffed his chest out proudly, having saved a maiden in distress, "So where do you work?"

"No idea!" she smiled, "I just follow my superior wherever she goes!"

"I-I see..." Now what was he supposed to do with this ditz, because he couldn't quite abandon a lost sheep. "Erm," he started, "I guess you can come with me until we find your superior."

"Oh! How nice of you!" Fullia chirped and walked next to him.

* * *

Meanwhile Hilin was raising hell in the kitchen at Fullia's disappearance and now the floor manager was short one ditzy waitress, so he pulled Gina to the front, as if that was any better. Her supposed peppy smile was more scary than a hungry zombie, yet there was no other choices, and due to obscured vision, she kept running in to the other servers and in to walls and doors and tables.

At least the turn around of tables was cut in half, as soon as dishes arrived to the customers, they practically inhaled their food, paid, and ran out of the restaurant. This was noticed by a lot of people on the streets, and many wondered if the place had terrible food that made their customers run away in horror.

From across the road, Loki had been observing the place ever since they set foot in to the neighborhood, because of the familiar divine energy that appeared a few days ago, and something was definitely going on, from the amount of people leaving the place. No explosions and random destruction, so it was safe for now, allowing him some time with his family before things got serious.

Sometimes he wished Urd hadn't called, requesting him to look into the current situation with the strangeness in Midgard, but then again, to be the one to offer Mayura a new wish, he couldn't be happier. But it was her adorable wish that made him, probably, the happiest being in the Nine Worlds, and how could anyone even deny her of such a wish, because if the Yggdrasil System screwed up again, he would gladly reboot it once more to get Mayura her wish again.

He looked down at the girl by his side, smiling, as she stole a piece of chicken from his bowl and fed it to Fenrir, who suddenly flailed his paws at the very spicy flavor that hit his tongue. A panicking Yamino quickly brought his drink to his brother, and Mayura smiled nervously, apologizing.

'Daddy, how can you eat that!' Fenrir managed to ask afterwards.

Loki shrugged and then held some noodles out to Mayura, but she shook her head fervently, not after seeing Fenrir's reaction to the spiciness. With her rejection, he sighed and ate the food, but it was a few seconds later that he was surprised by her own chopsticks held up to him, offering her own meal, which was not spicy of course. His eyes met hers and remained glued to them as his mouth found its way over to her chopsticks and took in the delicious morsel - nevermind that they were sharing the same chopsticks!

Fenrir whined, 'Daddy, I'm trying to eat...'

Mayura blushed, and from the corner of her eye, she could see Fenrir's whole head dipped into his large bowl to avoid looking at the lovey-dovey scene while a flustered Yamino had found interest on the table top.

Well, it didn't last long because a loud explosion interrupted them, from across the street at the restaurant that Loki had been observing. He jumped out of his seat and hurried out the shop, with an excited and worried Mayura right on his trail, which also had Fenrir barking after them, telling them to wait for him, and that left poor Yamino to pay the bill, whatever extra that the coupons didn't cover.

"I guess we should call the fire department," the waitress wondered.

Yamino sweatdropped and agreed, then ran after everyone else. By the time he reached the scene, all the customers and employees had evacuated the flaming premises and stood at a safe distance, but his father and brother and Mayura were no where in sight, so he assumed they had entered the restaurant. He was about to run in after them, but a few bystanders had pulled him back, telling him it was too dangerous, preventing him from shoving his way into the burning building.

* * *

Loki and Mayura, with Fenrir in between them at their feet, had appeared in the restaurant interior to find a confused Gina fiddling with a contraption in her hand. Mayura stepped forward, worried for the young woman, "Excuse me!"

The god, frowning, grabbed her wrist, stopping her from going any farther to the stranger. She looked at him, confused, "She might be hurt."

Gina started to cry, "I AM hurt! My heart is an empty wound, when my beloved queen is not here!"

After losing Fullia for the day and then Hilin was fired after a customer criticized her meal and she thrashed on him with a rolling pin, Gina was left all alone without any guidance, not even from her precious queen. Hilin, of course, couldn't walk away peacefully, she just had to throw in fire bomb in to the oven with plans of ruining the baking duck, which ended up taking the whole restaurant down with it.

She wiped her tears and bangs aside and focused on her the object in her hand again, which was really a fancy, futuristic-looking gun, "But this is all for Frigg-sama's sake!" She raised the gun to the group that appeared before her and pulled the trigger... and missed her targets because of her bangs. They sweatdropped as Gina tried again, this time getting part of Loki wet from... water?

Oh that did not make Loki happy, when he despised water.

"Huh...?"

There were no screams of pain and agony, so Gina looked at her gun again and changed the setting from 'water' to 'acid,' but Fenrir jumped at her, knocking the weapon from her grasp. Mayura stumbled to them and right pass them to pick it up before the woman could reach it, while Loki had summoned Laevateinn and used his powers over the flames, to recall the element in to the staff.

At this time, Mayura, who was unexpectedly tackled to the floor by Gina, was fighting with her over the possession of the gun. And then one of them had accidently pulled the trigger, and the gun sprayed out acid that Fenrir luckily avoided just to be safe, melting a table into a pile of fizzling goo within seconds. Mayura sweatdropped at what a dangerous weapon this crazy woman had, but with that split second break allowed Gina to smack the girl's head and retreive her weapon before throwing a smoke bomb to the floor.

In another crazy confusion, Gina booked it to the kitchen, after slamming her face right into the door, with plans to escape from the back, and staggered out of view.

'She's getting away!' Fenrir coughed, but the smoke obscured all of his senses, so he couldn't even track her down.

"Fenrir, are you okay?" came Mayura's voice nearby, "Where are you?"

'I'm okay,' he barked, and he also heard his father calling out to them too and soon felt a pair of hands around his body, pulling him to safety, and it was in Mayura's warm embrace. She stood up and tried to search for Loki, following the sound of his voice, and she was thankful that the building was no longer on fire. She suddenly found herself pressed against something solid and warm, almost squishing poor Fenrir between her and Loki's chest.

"Mayura," he cradled her possessively, "don't do that again. Don't jump into danger. Don't ever leave my side!"

"I-I'm sorry, Loki-sama," she whispered as he squeezed her tighter.

* * *

Just down the street, Narugami and Fullia were walking side by side, neither really focusing on each other, until the appearance of a sorrowful, wailing Gina charged towards them. She tripped and fell, and Narugami sweatdropped, watching the woman get back up, only to fall down again two steps later, but she somehow made it to them a minute later, suddenly stopping in front of him. She pushed her bangs to the side, seeing her blonde comrade, but didn't recognize the other face, so she assumed that he was a kidnapper and blasted the acidic spray at the stranger.

It was a good thing that Narugami could recognize unstable people easily, not that Gina was even hiding her unbalanced mental state, and with a swipe of Mjollnir, he sliced the liquid down the middle, forcing two waves to by pass him and a blinking Fullia behind him.

"You're not an ordinary person!" he exclaimed, pointing the tip of the wooden sword at Gina, whose gun was directed at him in return, though the actual aim was questionable.

"Neither are you!"

"Who are you?!"

"State your name!"

Narugami, at this point tried not to slap a hand to his face, and growled, "I asked you first!"

"It's rude to ask when you didn't say yours first!"

The stranger did have a point, and he felt obligated to introduce himself, "Narugami Tohru..."

"... Thor?"

"IDIOTS!" came Hilin's pissed off voice. From out of the sky, she dropped down to the pavement, her sudden weight cracked through the concrete, wedging in between the two, but she ignored the swordsman, "Gina, have you found Baldur-sama yet?"

"No, ma'am!"

Narugami stared at them, confused and wondered who these women were to be inquiring about his brother, but Hilin had thrown another smoke bomb, and by the time, the area cleared, the red-head and the dark-haired women had disappeared. When he turned back to his blonde company, she was gone too, thinking maybe she had been scared of the showdown, leaving him ever puzzled and ever late for his shift at work.

* * *

That evening at Enjaku Detective Agency, it was dinner time, and everyone was seated the table, all staring at the uninvited fifth person. An eager Narugami, sitting at the other end of the table, had dropped by after work to get a free meal and began to relate his big news for the day, about running in to some strange women who appeared to be searching for Baldur.

From the description of the two women, Loki concluded that they were the same ones that had attack him and Mayura, and he told Narugami about the cram school incident and the restaurant one.

"Oh, so that's why were busy all day!" Narugami said loudly, having been worned out from the non-stop crowds flooding into their small ramen shop while the burnt and destroyed, fancy restaurant across the street was empty.

The group sweatdropped at his epiphany, and it was Mayura who steered the conversation back on track, "So this Hilin and this Gina must be working together. To find Baldur-sama?"

"I guess so," Narugami shrugged, pouring a lot of salt and pepper over his potatoes, "But now that you mention it, Baldur never showed up in Asgard after the fight."

Fenrir snorted, 'I figured he'd be lickin' his battered pride alone.'

"Nii-san, that is rude," Yamino admonished, "even if he did try to kill us."

Loki, who had been quiet the whole time, was in his thoughts, organizing the facts he had on their mysterious adversaries, whose apparent goal was to find Baldur - whether their intentions were bad or good for the missing god, he wasn't sure and didn't really care - but it was obvious that they were on a warpath against Loki and his friends. They were probably a part of the strange energies Urd had asked of him to investigate. He would need more information on them before he could give Urd a call and report in.

"Do you think," Mayura began, grabbing everyone's attention, "Baldur-sama was abducted by aliens?!"

Everyone fell over, sweatdropping, while Fenrir groaned, 'Daddy, this is your assistant!'

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, had some funny parts... but gosh, Gina/Gna is hard to write... She's supposed to be a bit dark and emo, idolizing Frigg, with long bangs that hinder her vision, lol. And yes, all the other gods are returning to Midgard, each with their own new reason, lol!

As for their powerless states, which I had forgotten about... *sweatdrops* and a good point to bring up. I hope to bring them back, but I don't think we'll be seeing it in the next five chapters... I have a rough outline for the chapters, which doesn't involve any serious magical fights, lol. Off to my next one! -kuro.


	31. Chapter 31

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-One.**

"Mou, this is tough!" she mumbled to herself, eyes focused on her textbook.

Mayura, attempting to concentrate on the rest of her math homework, couldn't understand why Masamichi could only carry seven apples in his crate and only two crates could be fitted on the back of his bicycle, and he had to deliver 371 apples to the local fruit stand within two hours, and the total route would take him at least fifteen minutes, so how many could he deliver within that time frame and how much would the leftover apples cost him if five apples were priced at 200 yen?

After five minutes of rereading the paragraph, she threw up her papers and pencil into the air, giving up on frying any more of her brain cells that beautiful afternoon.

Loki, at his desk, peered up from his book to the little scene and chuckled. He placed his book down and rested his elbows on the armrests, clasping his hands together over his lap. "Mayu-chan, would you like some help?" he inquired with an innocent smile.

She looked up at him and sweatdropped, recalling the last time he did help, he found her most ticklish spots, and right now, she didn't need any distractions, especially from him, but she just couldn't avoid the burning gaze he was giving her, as if hypnotized by those sexy pools of green.

PIN-POO~N~!

Mayura praised the doorbell, standing up, shouting with glee, "It must be a client!"

While Loki quietly cursed the bad timing, they were both silent, listening to any movements from the first floor to indicate any visitors, from Yamino's greeting to footsteps climbing the staircase. They watched the door like hawks, eyeing the turning of the knob and the opening of the wooden panel, and Yamino sweatdropped at the intense eyes from the detective and his assistant burning holes in to him.

The girl blinked, not seeing anyone with Yamino, but she thought she heard voices. She opened her mouth to ask, but her answer came in the form of a shy, little boy peeking from behind Yamino. He appeared about eleven or twelve years old, around the same age of Loki's child form. She hopped out of her seat on the couch and greeted the child, "Hello there!"

Yamino introduced the boy, "This is Kitagawa Shirou. He wanted to see you, Loki-sama. Mayura-san."

"H-Hello," Shirou bowed, bashfully.

Mayura took the boy's hand, "Have a seat, Shirou-chan!" She had him sit on the couch and joined him, while Loki stood up from his chair and walked around his desk to join Mayura and Shirou, on the opposite couch. Yamino gave a curt bow, before excusing himself to bring the refreshments.

Loki looked at the child for a bit, making him uncomfortable, because he was sitting next to Mayura, maybe a little too close, but there was no way the god would be jealous of a little boy. But the more he eyed the pair, he noticed that Mayura had unexpectedly gotten attached to the youngster, giving him little compliments and gushing at his cuteness, which puzzled the god.

He coughed for their attention, "What can we help you with, Shirou?"

"Ah, yes," he was still blushing from being next to a pretty, older girl, "I would like to hire you."

"Is your puppy possessed by an angry ghost?!"

"Um no, nee-san," he sweatdropped, "You see, there's a game at the local arcade that's gotten people sick."

"Sick?"

"People have fainted after playing," he said quietly and looked at the floor, "My two best friends are in the hospital after passing out yesterday."

"That's so mysterious!" Mayura exclaimed.

The boy nodded, "That's why I would like you to look into it. Um, I can't really pay for your help," he dug in to his pocket and pulled out a few coins, "but I still have my snack money." He offered them the money, looking worried and shy.

The girl stared at him, starry-eyed, and hugged him, "There's no way we're taking your money! We'll do it for free! You're just so cute!" Still cuddling the boy to her bosom, she looked over to a stiff, simmering Loki who tried his best to smile, "Right, Loki-sama!"

"Of course," the corner of his lips twitching slightly, he expected this of Mayura's kindness and had no complaints, but the sooner they solve this, the faster the boy would disappear from her arms and leave his Mayura for himself. Yep, no way, no how, was he envious of the child pressed against her chest. He was in control, his emotions and twitchy hands were in control...

* * *

"Eheheheh..."

A proud Hilin stood at the entrance of the arcade center, arms over her chest, as she mentally patted herself on the back at the ingenious plan. The crowd of people excused themselves and pushed by her and a morose Gina, wondering why the pretty women were blocking everyone's way into the game place if they didn't plan on entering.

"This operation will succeed!" she laughed, "Baldur-sama loves a good game!"

"Hilin-san," Gina started, "is this the type of game Baldur-sama would play?"

"How could he not?" she stared unbelievably at her ally, pointing at a random customer, "Everyone is having a lot of fun, so why shouldn't this attract Baldur-sama!"

"I don't know," she began twiddling her thumbs, "I don't know what Baldur-sama likes... but Frigg-sama..." her eyes glazed over as she began to rattle off the queen's hobbies, "She loves gardening... and painting... singing... she has such a lovely voice... then there's needlepoint," she became so excited at this point, hyperventilating a bit, "she even has a stack of needlepoint magazines in the bathroom..."

Hilin made a weird, disgusted expression, "That's a bit creepy to know about Frigg-sama, even if it's coming from you, Gina..."

She tried to forget the overjoyed look in the woman's large eyes as she scanned the area, searching for their missing comrade. After finding the familiar blonde head, she slapped her forehead since Fullia was now the center of attention, at one of the driving simulation games, just hitting an all-time highest record.

And the crowd erupted in cheers.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Shirou took Loki and Mayura to the game center, leaving Fenrir at home since the group had left in a hurry and didn't partake of the refreshments so said puppy had a cookie binge, putting him out of commission for the next few hours. They arrived at the specific game center that had caused the fainting spells, but they were surprised that the bad health issue had not deterred people from it.

Shirou believed the number of people had increased from the day before, if not triple, gathering around a corner of the center, though the entrance was filled with so many teenagers and even adults of the male variety, shoving about like animals fighting for a spot to see all the action. It was so packed that the three couldn't even get their foot through the door.

Mayura sighed and asked Shirou, "Is this normal?"

He shook his head, "I think this is the first time it's packed."

"We can't do anything right now," Loki shrugged, "Let's take a break till it dies down."

They all agreed and made their way down the street and crossed to the other side where a few street vendors were, having ignored the real reason the place was packed.

A new rise to the ever popular and skilled gamer, Fullia was making her debut in the mortal realm, hitting all the top scores of every single game at the arcade, earning her a groupie of fanboys and also another slap to Hilin's own forehead at the discovery, "I cannot believe the ridiculousness of that fool!"

"But Hilin-san," Gina pointed out to the males surrounding their blonde ditz, "she's drawing in a lot of people. Maybe Baldur-sama will be among them."

"You have a good point!" she cracked her knuckles, "Let's flush these pigs out and find our beloved Baldur-sama!"

* * *

A few blocks away from all the action, Narugami was bicycling down the street for another delivery run, almost running over several people in the process and passing by a random game center that a familiar face was just exiting. With both gloved hands stuffed into his pockets, he dragged himself out of the arcade and in to the day light. He looked up to the bright skies, shielding his one eye from the sun beaming down upon him.

Heimdall couldn't believe he was back on Midgard again and in the pathetic body of a child too, like some cruel god was playing a joke on him, another god! He felt like he could only blame that accursed Loki for his terrible misfortunes, and somehow, he was sure that trickster had something to do with it!

* * *

Loki sneezed, wondering if someone was just cursing him just now.

"Loki-sama, are you okay?" Mayura asked, looking at him worriedly.

He smiled and reassured her that his health was perfect because he was just that awesome and great, to which she just rolled her eyes and looked down to her lap. His arm was rested on the stretch of the bench behind her, and she was oblivious of that hand falling onto her shoulder as she was in the middle of deciding which _mochi_ flavor cake to try next, the box of cakes sitting in her lap. She sat between Loki and Shirou on the bench, across the street from their targeted arcade center.

Shirou was still nibbling his red-bean mochi, eyes focused on the game center, so she picked up the strawberry-filled jelly mochi and brought it towards her mouth, only to have Loki grab her hand and moved it towards his mouth while the arm around her shoulder pushed her closer to him. He took a bite of her mochi, leaving half of it in her hand, and her jaw dropped at his bold action, though nothing like this should surprise her anymore.

"Loki-sama," she grumbled, glaring at him.

He feigned innocence, his hand still holding hers, "What? You're not going to finish it?"

And with a huff, she plopped the half eaten mochi into her mouth, but he still didn't remove his hand from hers and brought it again to his mouth, pressing the powdered pads of her fingers against his lips. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she suddenly shoved her other hand against his cheek, pushing his face away before he could lick her fingers, because it was just too embarrassing in public, and so many eyes were watching them - the majority of them were his stalkers, though half had fainted by now at the intimacy.

She retreated both hands back to her lap, quickly glancing over to Shirou to make sure he didn't see what had almost transpired, and thank goodness kids were more interested in games and food. She suddenly tensed at Loki's spiked aura of annoyance and nervously smiled when she found his hand pinching her cheek, having felt unsatisfied by her abandonment.

"Mou Loki-sama!" she whined for him to release her face, "We're in public!"

"Oh? You'll have no qualms about it at home?"

"Whose home?!"

He laughed, because she wasn't objecting the playful idea at all but worried over which house he was going to tease her at, and the thought of Mayura-papa catching them in a compromising position brought out the mischievous god in him. But when little things like this went too well, something bad was bound to happen to counteract the balance of the world.

"Ah!" Shirou stood up and pointed across the street, "Something's happening!"

They sweatdropped as they watched young men being thrown airborne out of the arcade center, like puny, undersized fish being discarded from a fishing boat - funny, how, after landing on the sidewalk, they started flopping around like helpless, little creatures.

Loki stood up as did the other two, but Mayura handed the box of mochi cakes to Shirou and told him, "Shirou-chan, please stay here and wait for us. We'll solve this mystery for you!"

The god turned to her too, looking very serious, "Mayura, you stay here too."

She pouted, "Loki-sama-"

He cupped her face, giving her a warning look that told her that he wasn't going to have any arguments, "There're too many people, and I don't want you getting hurt." That, and who knew what sort of pervert was going to be all touchy-feely when a cute, defenseless girl was in the vicinity. He knew from his own fortunate experiences, but call him a 'pervert' and one might be cursed to be female repellent for the rest of one's lifetime and the next.

"If you behave," he grinned, "I'll give you a nice reward tonight."

After seeing her flushed reaction, he chuckled and hurried across the street, leaving an irritated, embarrassed Mayura shouting after him, "NO THANKS!"

Shirou remarked, "Nee-san, you and _tantei_-san have a good relationship."

Mayura's left eye twitched, but her face was still red, "Please Shirou-chan."

She didn't deny the boy's words, his innocent observation of their friendship and closeness, but she didn't need to actually hear it from people because it was just too embarrassing when she felt like he enjoyed bullying her more than anything - that sadist! And maybe, just maybe she liked it... a tiny bit. So, did that make her a masochist?!

At that thought and realization, Mayura sat back down on the bench, dropping her head in to both hands, groaning loudly, and Shirou blinked, puzzled, "Nee-san, are you okay?"

She waved a hand casually at him, "Y-Yes, just a small headache..."

* * *

Loki, being such a gentleman, was about to lose his patience with this crowd of ill-mannered mortals, but the commotion in the middle of the game center caught his attention immediately, and he shoved his way in, not caring for the protests and complaints at his boorish behavior. He made it to the front of the crowd to witness a battle unto death, or whoever captured the most prizes from the UFO claw machine within the thirty minute time frame, to ultimately win the grand prize of them all: the mysterious and all-powerful Eye of God.

That would explain why Heimdall was back on Midgard, but to see him in his child form dueling against a cute blonde in a childish game was very amusing. If only Yamino had been there to record the opportunistic black mail bit with his mail ordered camcorder, but he guessed as long as he was there to witness it, it was just as good.

Heimdall glared at his competition, "I've warned you to back off! The grand prize is mine!"

The blonde airhead pouted, ready to start the game, "Fullia wants the prizey-wizey too!" She pointed to her forehead, with a toothy grin, "I want a third eye! So I can be all psychic-like!"

He ground his teeth, his patience wearing very thin, and he couldn't cause a scene on Midgard, much less kill this woman and the many witnesses present. He was about to face-palm when he caught a glimpse of someone laughing, and god, how could the day get any worse. The one person he didn't want to run in to was already there, watching him make a fool of himself.

"Loki," he growled

"Heimdall," he returned amicably as possible without throwing out a fireball at the sore eye that was Heimdall's twitchy one eye, "Perhaps I should wish you a 'good luck'?"

He grumbled something inaudible as the manager counted the two contestants off in the race for the Eye of God!

Cue fancy, pop-like, hyper, spazzed out music as the competition was under way! Oh no need, the groups over by the _Dance Dance Revolution_ game were happy to provide the intense, background music to a wonderful showdown. One pop song after another, sugary-filled, seizure-inducing to the point of cavities that dentists and doctors were overjoyed to deal with, raking in a ton of money.

The battle was fierce - captivating and flashy, with splits screens of determined faces, including dramatic lightning bolts in the background, and eyes that were focused on the task at hand. Heimdall gritted his teeth, the sweat pouring down the side of his face, his hands skillfully operating the buttons and joystick, while Fullia was all smiles, humming to herself, as she navigated the stick like stirring a pot of _okayu_, and a few bowls of rice porridge sure sounded good right now.

Five minutes later, Heimdall was cursing at the penguin slipping off of the claws again, setting the score at three to seven. He glared over to the chirpy blonde, whose tongue now poked between her lips as she put some effort in to concentrating, which was amazing to begin with since her attention span was as long as a sneeze. But at this rate, Heimdall would totally lose, so he had to think of something, quickly.

* * *

Loki was soon bored with watching the morons fight over the mysterious Eye of God, so he wandered off, searching for the arcade game that caused health problems, from one corner to the next. He found nothing out of the ordinary besides the many expressionless faces of youth being hypnotized by the mindless box of colorful graphics and violence. His eyes darted over to the DDR section, and he sweatdropped at the quick movements of feet to the music, thinking how he was not an idiot to make a fool of himself with such silly games.

He continued on, heading to a more darker area of the arcade, but the bright flashing from the monitors provided a source of light, almost giving a headache for even looking too long. He sighed and watched a kid rub his eyes for a few seconds and continue to play his game, his eyes droopy and dreary like two lifeless orbs in his skull.

He was just glad his kids were all grown-up and not have to deal with this type of unhealthy hobby, but then again Yamino had been ordering too many things by mail lately, and if Fenrir didn't stop eating so much, he might need to go on a diet. However old his children were, they would always still be kids at heart, and he smiled at the thought.

Well, at least he could tell Shirou that the game didn't drain his friends of their life force, or something so cheesy and lame, and just advise them and all these gamers that they just need to quit playing so much, to limit the chance of falling ill. They just need to play outside, under the refreshing sun, more often!

With the case closed, he started to head back out, only to stop by the contest to see how Heimdall was faring, and he was surprised that the one-eyed god had caught up, at a score of 17 to 18, and only three minutes left in the game.

That last few minutes had become frenzied and a bit scary as the two participants' expressions had turned into raging, psychotic spasms in their facial muscles. Back and forth, a prized was earned for each side, until the final bell buzzed, temporarily deafening everyone's ears, and the score ended up with Fullia as champion by one point, and this was with Heimdall's little cheating in using the bit of shadow in the box to up his chances of grabbing the objects.

Angry at losing, Heimdall kicked the machine over, scaring the crowds who quickly scattered away, but Fullia was too oblivious, excited with all the small prizes she had collected, including the grand prize which the manager was about to hand out.

Heimdall pointed his finger at them, demanding the grand prize, "I should've done this from the start! NOW GIVE THE EYE TO ME! IT'S RIGHTFULLY MINE!"

The manager and Fullia, in the middle of handing a paper ticket to the winner, blinked at the upset child that was Heimdall, as he sweatdropped. Loki laughed and patted his head, "Heimdall, I had no idea you wanted to see a magical show so badly." He tapped his chin in thought, "Though the mysterious Eye of God is a very catchy title for mortal's stage name."

"Shut up, Loki."

"Fullia!" came Hilin's yell over the crowds, "Did you find Baldur-sama?!"

She shoved her way through the people, not caring if she had injured them, with Gina right at her heels. She did a double take when she saw Loki and Heimdall standing there and pointed a shaky finger at them, "YOU! You evil god!"

"Ah, fancy meeting you here," Loki grinned, and with a flash, Laevateinn appeared in his hands.

Heimdall folded his arms over his chest, asking, "Old friends of yours, Loki?"

"Not quite. But I wouldn't mind sitting down for a cup of tea as we discuss things peacefully."

"Fat chance!" Hilin cried, readying her mop for a fight, while Gina searched her sleeves for her weapon and Fullia tucked her grand prize ticket to the Eye of God show down in her bra and pulled out two feather dusters, one for each hand. "We will die before revealing any of Frigg-sama's secrets! Like turning Midgard upside-down to search for Baldur-sama!"

The two gods sweatdropped and exchanged tiresome glances, and Loki just waved Laevateinn at them, and a blast of fire toasted their weapons and the women themselves, scorching their bodies, clothes and pride. Yes, Loki was just too powerful for the three of them, and of course, they resorted to their escape plan a la smoke bomb again - well, three smoke bombs this time - which created a huge smoke hazard and set off the center's sprinklers and alarms.

Mass chaos ensued as everyone pushed their way out of the game center, leaving a very unhappy and wet god named Loki, with his equally unhappy and wet god sidekick named Heimdall.

* * *

Mayura and Shirou hurried to the arcade entrance, standing off to the side, so they wouldn't get trampled, to try and see what had caused the hysteria, but they couldn't see anything through the smoke and water. They try to stop a few people running by them, but no one would tell her what happened in there, scared for their own lives. Worried and panicking, Mayura didn't care for her safety and rushed inside, with a frightened Shirou calling after her.

"Loki-sama!" she called out to him, in between the fits of coughing, "Loki-sama! Where are you?!"

She could see outlines of objects and did her best to avoid them, feeling her way through the thick smoke, eventually getting herself wet in the process since the sprinkler system was still on. Drenched and cold, she wasn't giving up until she found Loki, until she felt his warmth with her touch and know that he was still real and alive. She brushed a hand through her wet hair, calling out his name frantically, the fear of losing him beating in her chest.

"Loki-sama!" she cried, tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "Hngh... Loki-sama..."

She coughed, leaning against a machine, and wiped the water from her eyes, oblivious of the pair of hands reaching out from the haze, behind her. The arms encircled her waist, and she gasped as they pulled her back, against a firm chest. She almost resisted until his soothing voice burned against her ear, "Mayura..."

"Loki-sama!" she shouted happily, turning to face him within his embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her head against his chest, repeatedly thanking god (which one?) that he was all right. He smiled, content with the warmth of her body and her apparent feelings for him, and basked in the attention the mortal girl was giving him.

* * *

So about fifteen minutes later, when an unwilling Loki had to part from hugging Mayura and any chance of groping her, they were bidding farewell to a grateful Shirou, who waved them in the distance and made his way home. Both were still soaked from head to toe, but the fresh air had helped, just not enough in the short amount of time because Mayura's school top was uh, a wet, see through white, so after a few seconds of taking in her sexy image, Loki dropped his coat on to her shoulders and pulled the front together.

"Loki-sama?" she questioned his actions, feeling a little warmer now with the protection.

He looked away and sighed, "Can't have you walking home like that."

She blinked, not understanding what he meant, but it was Heimdall's voice that interrupted their cute moment, scoffing at the pair, "This is why you returned?"

She turned around and gasped, "Kazumi-kun! You're back too?!"

He closed his eye and rubbed his temple, "Not that I wanted to..."

Loki chuckled, having figured out the reason Heimdall was on Midgard, "He lost his eye again."

"Again?!" Mayura stared at the small god, brows shot right up to her hairline, and sighed, "Kazumi-kun is very clumsy. You can't keep losing your eye like that. It's very important to have all your body parts together..."

Having to listen to the mortal girl reprimand and lecture him and Loki laughing at him, Heimdall regretted returning to Midgard, but this was for the sake of his right eye! So he would have to suck it in and deal with it, and maybe kill them all after he got his eye back.

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, I originally had a different ending where Mayura was playing DDR and her dancing *coughs* becomes way too distracting for Loki. It would've been hilarious, but I kinda like the touching reunion better.

But seriously, Heimdall needs to get his things together... losing his eye again! At least it wasn't Loki's fault this time, but the future black mail material is unforgivable! Lol.

And kudos to those who recognize the _El Hazard_ series reference!

I'll be having oodles of fun with the next chapter. *grins* -kuro.


	32. Chapter 32

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-Two.**

One weekday afternoon, Mayura had brought Loki to a restaurant in her neighborhood, to a potential client who was old friends with her father. He couldn't say no to the girl, but as they sat there with the forty-something-year-old man who kept pounding his fist on the table during every other sentence, Loki was having second thoughts as he managed to save his cup of tea from spillage.

"You see, tantei-san," the restaurant owner named Takahashi Ryuu started, "My family's been running this place for generations, and those Makimuras are always tryin' to start trouble! Like that one time..."

So after several minutes of storytelling and random tangents, Loki gathered that these two family were rivals in the restaurant business - _SOBA_ versus _UDON_, food was serious business here - having purposely opened up across the street from each other. After many costly pranks against one another, it was eventually decided that the best way to see who was the best was to hold a racing competition each year, which later opened up to all the restaurant businesses in the neighborhood. Then every year, it became more extravagant and widely known that gathered many people to come and watch. *****

So here Loki was, being pleaded by a desperate Takahashi, "PLEASE! I beg of you! Please participate in the contest on my family's behalf! Mayura-chan has spoken highly of you!"

With a flat expression, he glanced to his right to his cute assistant, who was sweatdropping profusely and gave him a small wave with a nervous smile, and then turned back to the man and said, "Takahashi-san, you do realize that I'm just a detective for the paranormal and mysterious, not a jack-of-all-trades for hire."

"Yes, but you must!" he began to cry hopelessly into his arm, "Year after year, we've lost, and I don't know what to do anymore! You are our last hope!"

"Please, Loki-sama!" Mayura finally interjected, with determined, clenched fists and lovely, shimmering ruby eyes imploring him, "The troubled and weak need us! It's our duty as detectives!"

He sweatdropped at her proclamation, but there was no way he could refuse her insistence, not when she was so adorable with her little speeches, and she was his maiden in distress. So he finally gave in with a single nod, and he was taken aback when Mayura and Takahashi jumped out of their seats, high-fived each other and did a happy, celebratory dance.

He sighed and told them, "Maybe you should celebrate after we win."

"Right right!" Takahashi laughed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, and then began to describe the competition.

As he said before, the annual competition had been opened up to all eatery joints in the neighborhood, where registrations closed a week before the event would take place. It was a long delivery race of the each restaurant's specialty dish, with a series of obstacles along the way, to reach the finish line. Obstacles ranged from simple roadblocks to urban death traps to out right pretend muggings to public streaking...

It all sounded simple enough, as much as Loki tried not to question some of the obstacles, but he did inquire one thing, "Where is the finish line?"

"We won't know till the day of the race. The host selects a random address as the delivery house."

"Ah, then there will be no chance of sabotage."

* * *

The day of the race finally arrived, after Takahashi had registered Loki and Mayura on his family's restaurant's behalf, and Yamino, with Fenrir in his arms, had come to give their full support to their father and his assistant, and unofficial girlfriend. Loki was not used to dressing in simple clothing of khaki pants and a t-shirt that advertised the restaurant too, but he was enjoying the ones Mayura had on: the same t-shirt but much more fitted, with the bottom hem scrunched together in to a knot, revealing her fair-skinned abdomen, and a pair of short denim that showed the length of her lovely legs.

Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and she was chewing on bubble gum, hands on her hips, oblivious of the male attention she received, as she waited, standing next to the handsome god, who did his fair share of enrapturing the female crowd. This pair was a sight to behold, and the priority to keep an eye on, and Takahashi mentally patted himself on the back for hiring them because not only would he win the race but his restaurant was getting awesome advertisement.

She blew a bubble and then popped it, frowning a bit, "Mou Loki-sama, there sure are a lot of people participating..."

"Ah, don't worry," he tried to reassure her and casually put an arm around her shoulder, causing several males in the background to shout obscenely at the handsome man. Yamino sweatdropped while his brother barked at the crowd with just equally obscene words, and he was glad that Loki and Mayura were too distracted by their own thoughts to take notice.

"Ha~? Isn't that Narugami-kun?" Mayura pointed to the brunette complaining to the host, though they were not surprised to find him among the masses of restaurants present.

They walked over to their friend, wanting to know what was troubling him, and maybe even help him in some way... That was until they recognized the name of the Takahashis' rival restaurant across the back of his shirt.

Loki called out to him, "What's going on, Narugami?"

"Oh you guys are here too!"

"We're in the race," Mayura explained and then gave him the evil glare, "Narugami-kun, you're working for the Makimuras?"

"Yeah," he pouted, "But my partner got sick!"

"That's too bad," Loki shrugged, smiling smugly, not feeling sympathetic at all, and with their rival out of the game, it would make things much easier.

Narugami's eyes scanned the crowd, and he zeroed in on Yamino, who started to sweat when he caught the god of thunder's eyes on him. The dark, plotting glint that sparkled did not ease the unsettling feeling in Yamino's stomach, and he prayed that his father would save him.

"Oi Loki! Won't you lend me Megane!"

Loki stared, deadpanned, at his friend, "No."

"That's right!" Mayura pointed dramatically at Narugami, "We may be friends, but today, we shall be enemies! The Takahashis will win this race!"

Loki chuckled at the sulky Narugami, having no choice but to forfeit if he didn't find a replacement soon. He hurried off towards the crowd, and one familiar head was walking by, oblivious of the event with only one goal in his mind, and Narugami grabbed his arm.

"HEY! What's the big id-"

Heimdall was resisting against being kidnapped, willing to resort to shouting out like a helpless child, until he realized it was Narugami trying to calm him down, "Look, Heimdall, I need your help here. I need to get into this race and win, so how about you joining me?"

"I don't have time for your games," he growled, "I need to find my eye."

"Hey, if you help me with this, I'll help you find your eye, 'kay?"

"Fine," he huffed out, because the god of thunder was very persistent and got very whiny and he just didn't need all that headache, while a happy Narugami punched a fist into the air.

* * *

In the next few minutes, each team was given a bicycle and a map from the race committee members while their respective restaurants handed to their teams the box containing the special dish to be delivered to their mystery house. The rider would pedal the duo through the streets while the navigator sat on the extra seat behind the rider, with the map and the package, which needed to remain in tact upon reaching the finish line to the customer.

A lot of obstacles in the way could spill the contents, and attacks by other teams were allowed, so any ruined meal or completely annihilated one would disqualify the team from the race, so everyone would have to be careful and alert.

After a quick welcome from the district chief, the neighborhood leader began to go over the rules and such for the benefit of the spectators, while the teams stepped up to the starting line. Loki was pushing the bicycle up to the spot right next to Narugami and Heimdall and smirked in their direction, and Mayura popped another bubble as she looked at the map in one hand while holding the box in the other.

"Oh Kazumi-kun is joining too!" she smiled pleasantly, after taking notice of the god seated as the navigator, but then her demeanor changed to a slightly dark one, "Even so, Narugami-kun will not win!"

Narugami and Heimdall were surprised by such an uncharacteristic, sinister look and shot worried glances towards her partner, who just smiled and shrugged, finding her change rather sexy in a dark and evil way.

Oh, but that surprise did not beat the one that appeared on the other side of Loki, in the form of one Freyr pushing his bicycle up to the line, with sidekick pet Gullinbursti in the navigator seat- err, basket.

"FREYR!" the gods shouted in horror and shock.

The god blinked and turned to them, completely ignoring them when all he could see was a pretty pink-haired girl, shouting, "Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko!"

"Ah hello, Freyr-sama..."

So ecstatic, he stretched out his arms to embrace her, but Loki had grabbed Gullinbursti and shoved the piglet in to his arms instead, giving the god some advice, "Keep your hands to yourself, Freyr. Especially away from other people's partners."

"LOKI!" he shouted, "How dare you keep Freyr away from Freyr's beloved Yamato Nadeshiko! You villain!" After a quick huff of annoyance, he brushed a hand through his hair and gave a sweatdropping Mayura a dashing smile, "Freyr will prove his worthiness for Yamato Nadeshiko's hand by winning this race! Right, Gullinbursti?"

He put his piglet friend back in to the navigator basket with their food, which only earned him questioning stares from the other gods, and Heimdall called the host over about the situation of a pig being Freyr's partner. The host just shrugged, "It's the first time this has ever been brought up, but I don't see why not. The pig seems intelligent enough."

Gullinbursti smiled and nodded, "Bwee bwe bweee~!"

Loki sighed, along with the other gods, and mumbled, "It's not the pig that we're contesting about. It's the other half of the pair..."

Narugami and Heimdall nodded, apparently agreeing on something together, earning much disdain and flailing from Freyr. Mayura giggled and gave him a sweet smile, "Let's do our best, Freyr-sama!"

"Oi Daidouji!" an irritated Narugami tugged on her ponytail for her attention, "Why'd Freyr get a 'let's do our best' when we got your stink eye?!"

Heimdall, smirking, stated the obvious, "It's because she knows we are the threat and not Freyr."

"Yamato Nadeshiko..." he sighed happily, making those googly, love-struck eyes, having overlooked the remark that his dear Yamato Nadeshiko didn't see him as a worthy opponent.

"Th-That's not true!" she whined, her face a bit pink, thinking Freyr need a bit more encouragement than Narugami and Heimdall.

* * *

If the group, or anyone at all, had paid any attention to farther down the starting line, they would have noticed a certain red-head and blonde pair had entered the contest too, with their sole goal of still searching for their beloved. Hilin looked out towards the many spectators, very smug about her awesome plan in participating in this mortal contest, because Baldur always had an interest in watching these high competitive events.

She scanned the crowd one more time and sweatdropped when she easily spotted Gina and her cloud of gloom amongst the people, having left the dark-haired woman to keep a lookout for Baldur. From the corner of her eye, she saw Fullia opening their box and slapped her hand away, "That's for the customer! If you eat it, we won't have anything to deliver!"

"Yes, Hilin-san!" she pouted.

And finally, the host announced the moment of the random drawing. All eyes fell upon the neighborhood leader as he drew out the random address that would be the finish line. He read the destination loud and clear, and all navigators immediately made the note on their maps.

Next came the countdown as teams mentally prepared themselves. Hilin appeared to be fired up, her eyes ablazed like the color of her hair.

"On your mark!"

Narugami and Heimdall looked very focused.

"Get set!"

Freyr checked the bell attached to the handle bar, giving it a ring, and smiled at the cute sound, reminding him so much of his Yamato Nadeshiko.

"GO~O~O~O~!"

At the final count, all teams disappeared from the starting line in a flash... except for a sweatdropping Loki and Mayura, who were still clumsily in the same spot. Mayura tugged his shirt, "Mou Loki-sama! We have to go!"

"Ah..." Loki felt the sudden dread, "Sorry, Mayura..."

* * *

'What's wrong with daddy?' Fenrir, now sitting on Yamino's head for a better view, asked.

Yamino sweatdropped, "Ano, I think Loki-sama just realized..."

* * *

Mayura peered over to him, concerned about his uncharacteristic trembling, "Loki-sama?"

His sweatdrop grew bigger as he found himself in the most embarrassing moment ever, "I... don't know how to ride this thing..."

The mortal girl fell over and quickly got up, "Mou Loki-sama! Why didn't you say so sooner!" She shoved the map and delivery box into his hands and ushered him to the back seat while she climbed on the bicycle.

"Hold on, Loki-sama!" she shouted, looking very driven and almost wild, and the warning almost came too late as she took off, but Loki was able to grab on to her just in time, leaving a huge trail of dust behind. He was amazed at her hidden strength and how sexy her will power and determination was. But he could feel his stomach getting queasy already and pressed his woozy head against her back, now regretting this whole ordeal because of his pathetic weakness with motion sickness, which he had thought happened only in his child form.

"Loki-sama?" came his partner's concern voice.

"I-I'll be... fine..."

Yeah right, he didn't sound like his confident and overbearing self, which prompt Mayura to slow down her speed until they stopped. He lifted his head from her as she turned halfway around to him, looking worried and upset at the same time, "Loki-sama, let's stop."

"Mayura..." he stared at her and felt guilty, "But you really want to win."

She frowned and boldly flicked his forehead with his finger, causing him to blink at her, puzzled. "Loki-sama is more important than a win!" she declared. Smiling oh-so sweetly to him, she whispered softly with a pink hue across her cheeks, "Loki-sama will always be important to me."

"Mayura..."

Deeply touched by her confession, he leaned up to give her a chaste kiss on her lips, causing her blush to deepen, and pulled back with a very confident grin, satisfied by her cute reaction, "Let's win this race!"

She blinked for a second, surprised that he gave her such a gentle kiss - after teasing her so much - but she shook herself out of it and looked in to his beautiful eyes to be certain that he was okay with continuing the race. She found her answer and mirrored his exact smile, before turning around and zoomed off again, still with a semi-ill Loki clutching her for dear life because she was going way beyond the bicycling speed limit - watch out for those roaming hands!

* * *

Narugami was pedaling as fast as he could, having no trouble with his speed, and avoided the road block ahead by going even faster and used the side bench to propel the whole bicycle over the block. He landed on the other side roughly, giving Heimdall's head a nice knock into the delivery box.

"What the hell, Thor!" he shouted, "You're going the wrong way!"

"Don't worry! I've been making deliveries all over Tokyo. I know all the shortcuts around here!"

"What kind of shortcut goes in the opposite direction!"

* * *

Then there was Freyr, who re-secured Gullinbursti and the package to the back of his bicycle because the piglet kept popping out of it every time he hit a pebble. He looked at the map, himself, and then resumed pedaling happily along as if he was going on a casual ride through the nice countryside.

* * *

Surprisingly, ahead of all the teams was the pair of Hilin and Fullia, with the former pedaling like a madwoman, because she was a hardcore competitor, leaving in their wake a nasty trail of fire and smoke. Her speed was so amazing that she flew straight across the huge pit hole in the middle of road, one of the obstacles in the way.

Navigator Fullia was enjoying her backseat ride, giving directions as they went along. The wind in her face was so wonderful, and like a child loving the rush, she threw both hands into the air with glee, and mother nature sneezed and snatched the map from her hand.

Fullia turned around and watched their map go bye-bye in the distance, "Oopsie?"

"Goddammit, Fullia!"

* * *

Back at the starting line, the spectators were all watching the large television screen, where an overhead shot of the district below was transmitted from the helicopter in the skies, but each bicycle provided also had a camera and GPS tracker attached to the handle bar to get a first-person point of view.

Yamino and Fenrir could see that the last place team of Loki and Mayura had a rough start, but they were soon catching up with the others. They were amazed by Mayura's speed and spirit of competition because she had just knocked out two teams from the race.

'Wow,' Fenrir's jaw dropped, 'I didn't think daddy's girlfriend had it in her...'

"Ah, Mayura-san looks dangerous," Yamino smiled nervously.

They watched the team in front of Mayura panic when she came closer, still out of arm's reach, but Laevateinn appeared in the camera shot, knocking against the back wheel of their opponents' bicycle, causing them to lose balance and fall over, tipping the delivery box to the ground.

Then a quick cut to the opponent's camera getting the shot of Mayura and Loki speeding away, and the god giving them a grinning salute.

All was fair in food delivery and war... magical staff included.

While everyone was glued to the screen, cheering and whistling at the hotness of violence and action, Gina moved about the throngs of people, searching for anyone resembling Baldur, but it seemed her mission would end up in failure though, and only the thought of her precious Frigg-sama cheered her up just a bit. In a daze and blinded by her bangs, she walked right behind Yamino and Fenrir, who were both to preoccupied, especially the latter, to notice her presence.

Gina even passed by the host, busy dialing the phone number that was attached to the address, and eventually off the whole scene, not realizing it all together.

"Hm, you know this address is very familiar," the host mumbled to himself, calling to make sure someone was present at the final location, although several media stations had already gone to it to record the results of the victorious team. He waited through a few rings when it was finally answered by a very polite woman...

* * *

"... You've reached the Kakinouchi residence," the maid servant spoke in a gentle tone, "How can I be of service?

"Why yes, there is always a person present... Yes, this is the home of the rich and famous Kakinouchi family... Actually, our young master, Kakinouchi Koutaro-sama, is currently home... Yes, I will relay the message... Thank you. Have a good day."

She pleasantly hung up the phone and walked down a few long hallways, making a few turns, until she reached the double doors of the study. She knocked and was quickly allowed entrance. She tread softly up to the desk where Koutaro was sitting and busily reading a book, "_Obocchama_, the neighborhood spokesperson has a message for you."

He put his book down and waited for her to explain, "It appears that we have been selected as the finish line for the annual delivery race today."

"What?"

"We will be receiving a free meal courtesy of the-"

A loud crash interrupted them, and Koutaro jumped out of his chair and ran out the door. The maid followed him, and they heard a few more noises in the front courtyard. After a long trek of winding hallways, because the Kakinouchi mansion was so large and vast, able to lose several visitors within its mighty walls, the two reached the front doors. He swung the doors opened to find the yard filled with familiar faces, Mayura and Loki, and some unfamiliar ones, Hilin and Fullia... along with the media posted outside the gates of his home.

Koutaro collapsed on to his knees, "Ma-Mayura...?"

A helicopter from above shining lights and camera upon the ground below, getting a good view of the showdown between the two teams that managed to arrive at the finish line in one piece, but...

"Team Takahashi Soba and Team Fried Fish Bowl!" shouted some random reporter, "They've reached the finish line together!"

A quick cut to the broken Kakinouchi gates that the two teams busted through, one door dangling on its last hinge fell to the ground, then back to the two teams. Hilin looked ready to run Loki and his partner down, while Mayura returned the same expression but less menacing and cute because she didn't have a violent and aggressive streak like a certain red-head.

"But we can only have ONE winner! The final fight of anything goes! Who will come out on top?!"

Now that he was finally on solid ground, Loki was back to his normal self, with Laevateinn in hand, and gave the delivery box to Mayura. He stood in front of her protectively, meeting Hilin and her mop at the forefront, and it all came down to destroying the other team's special dish.

With a battle cry and her red glowy battle aura, Hilin charged right at Loki, mop held high ready to strike, and Loki, in turn, dashed straight ahead, prepared to block and counter her attack.

"AND WE HAVE THE WINNER!" the reporter shouted, "TEAM TAKAHASHI SOBA!"

Loki and Hilin halted in their steps, comically, looking very confused, until they turned their heads towards a cheerful Fullia, who was sitting on a stone decoration eating her team's special meal, wondering why everyone was staring at her. She slurped the noodles straight in to her mouth, with bits of food still on her face, and asked, "What?"

"DAMMIT, FULLIA!" Hilin yelled at the blonde, "I told you NOT to eat the food!"

"But I was hungry!" she whined.

Loki and Mayura, sweatdropping, walked over to a stunned Koutaro and delivered their intact meal to him. "Enjoy the food, Koutaro-kun!" she chirped to her classmate, who was still trying to take in the whole event, but it appeared to be too much for the young master, who passed out.

* * *

After the closing ceremony along with the awarding the victorious duo with the prizes - which consisted of a monetary prize of 100,000 yen ($1000), a coupon booklet to the local restaurants, and a limited edition _Lucky Star_ cast mug - a very grateful Takahashi bowed to Loki and Mayura and handed half the prize money and the booklet to them. He kept the mug though, "My daughter's been wanting this!"

"NOOOOOO!" Freyr cried dramatically in his spotlight in the background, causing everyone to sweatdrop.

"Err, is he your friend?" Takahashi asked the detective and his assistant, to which the god shook his head no but the mortal girl nodded yes, "Right, so thanks again, tantei-san. Mayura-chan."

"I can't believe we lost!" Narugami sighed, "All that money!"

Heimdall whacked his partner's head with Mjollnir, "I told you a thousand times we were going the wrong way!"

Loki sighed, shaking his head and wishing he didn't know those gods, as Yamino and Fenrir joined their father and Mayura, who seemed worried about Freyr and the sad, rainy cloud over him and Gullinbursti. She walked over to them and asked, "What's wrong, Freyr-sama? Did you want to win that badly?"

Through the tears, he gazed up at his lovely goddess, "Yamato Nadeshiko..." Wailing loudly, he threw his arms towards her legs, wanting to be comfort by any part of her, but Loki's shoe smashed into his face.

"Freyr..." his voice was low and very threatening, matching the evil expression, "didn't I warn you about keeping your hands to yourself?"

"Why are you even in Midgard?" Heimdall wondered.

Freyr looked at the ground, twiddling with his fingers, appearing very guilty about something, and the other gods did not seem happy about it because that was the sign of an extremely guilty conscience. They remembered the last time he did something terrible, like purposely destroying a _jaki_ jar and releasing the two million evil spirits into Midgard just so he could be banished to the mortal realm to find his sister.

Loki, Heimdall, Narugami, Yamino and Fenrir surrounded the clumsy god, towering over him with furious eyes, promising of endless pain if the reason he was in Midgard was the same actions of the past. "Freyr..." Heimdall growled.

"Okay okay!" Freyr cried, "Freyr broke Odin-sama's favorite mug!"

"..."

"It was Odin-sama's limited edition _Lucky Star_ mug..."

"..."

No words could even describe each god's feelings on the matter - whether it was about Freyr's forever clumsiness that once again banished him to Midgard or Odin's _otaku_ side, it was best left not to be discussed.

* * *

***** _Soba_ is a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, can be served cold with dipping sauce or hot in soup or stir fried. _Udon_ is a type of thick wheat flour noodle, often used in hot noodle soup dishes but can be stir fried too.

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, I had too much fun writing this chapter up! I had all evening to finish this and wanted to get it posted for your early weekend enjoyment! Don't ask me about Odin and his _otaku_-ness, because it was just random, lol! I actually haven't read/seen _Lucky Star_ yet, but gosh, I know it's super popular.

Some _Ranma 1/2_ inspiration, the episode of the Martial Arts Take Out Race, lol, and a shout out to its creator, **Takahashi** Rumiko-sensei!

Anyway, have a great weekend, everyone! See you next week?! Lol~! -kuro.


	33. Chapter 33

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-Three.**

"EMERGENCY CRISIS!"

Mayura cried as she slammed her hands down on the dining table, wakening up all those present in the room if they weren't fully awake yet. She was standing at one end of the table, looking frantic and breathing heavily, which Loki wouldn't normally minded on most days, but he didn't understand why the rest of the gods were also seated in his home. All eyes were on her, including a patient Yamino in the middle of serving tea to their uninvited guests, at least he and his father didn't invite them.

Narugami was already munching on the plate of cookies, crumbs dribbling out of his mouth, not caring that he was pulled out of his shrine duties and his new part-time job wouldn't start for another two hours.

'Oi, Flashy Pants,' Fenrir barked, 'Don't eat all the food!'

"Forget the food!" Heimdall yelled and drank his tea, "What's this emergency, nee-chan? I do have other things to do."

"Yes yes!" Freyr interjected excitedly, "If Yamato Nadeshiko is in a bind, Freyr will save you!"

Mayura took a deep breathe and then looked at them, opening her mouth to begin her tale of woe...

"So... the other day, our class had a meeting about the pre-summer festivities, and we had decided to do an awesome, scariest haunted house ever! So... we divided up the jobs to get materials, building things, etc..."

"Jormungand, more cookies!"

"Yes, nii-san."

"Yeah Megane, more cookies!"

"I was going to get supplies from the art room, and then on my way back to class, my arms filled with so much stuff..."

"Freyr, stop breathing over my shoulder!"

"Heim, if you don't want your cake, Freyr wants it!"

"Take it!"

Mayura, fuming from all the interruptions, sped through the rest in one breath, "I couldn't see where I was going and tripped over something, everything flew into the air, and flailing my arms to regain balance didn't work and I went flying forward. I grabbed onto the nearest thing which was the curtain, but it ripped from the banister and I kept going forward into the marble stand and... KNOCKED OVER A 8,000,000 yen ($80,000) ANTIQUE VASE!

All the gods, who had been drinking tea during this monologue, suddenly had their beverage spewed from their mouths. Then they all gaped at a very upset and distraught Mayura, hung her head low, bangs obscuring her eyes, and wondered how in the Nine Worlds did this mortal girl ever survived this long in Midgard. She was a walking magnet for trouble, but no one dared to utter a word or maybe even breathe.

Loki, sweatdropping, was a brave man- err, god to ask the inevitable, "Mayura, then... how will you pay for it?"

Her head snapped up, and she was staring aback at him with an almost mad look about her eyes and pointed to the lot of them, "You guys... You guys will help me!"

Everyone sweatdropped and feared for the worse, but no one could object to the mortal girl's declaration, each having owed her much already, and it was silently agreed upon that they would do all they could to reach this insane amount of money for one vase that probably had no reason to be displayed in a public high school without any appropriate security measures.

* * *

A few minutes later, after all the uninvited guests left the agency, Loki returned to his study and sat at his desk, trying to process what had just occurred while Fenrir had curled on the couch for a nap. The door quietly opened, and Yamino entered with a late afternoon tea.

"How is she?" he asked his son.

"Mayura-san is resting in the guest room." He smiled and added, "I think the lavender peach tea helped."

Loki leaned back in his chair, chuckling, "She... just never ceases to amaze me."

"I'm glad that you are happy, Loki-sama."

He stared at his son for a moment, and then his gaze fell upon the desk top, feeling a bit guilty that his children had left their home in Asgard to be with him in the mortal realm, for his own selfish desires, "Yamino... I'm-"

"Loki-sama, we'll go wherever you go. As long as we're with you, we're happy."

'Jormungand's right,' Fenrir had opened an eye, yawning, 'It doesn't matter where we are, home is always with you, daddy.'

Loki smiled, happy that his sons understood him so well.

"Nii-san can be sentimental after all."

"Quiet, Jormungand, I want to sleep," he growled, squirming uncomfortably at having be complimented as a softie, shutting his eyes again.

Yamino laughed softly into his fist, "Yes, nii-san."

* * *

So the day of the school festival arrived, and Mayura, in a maid outfit, had been running around all morning to make sure everything was in place, not a detail missing nor out of order, which would make Yamino quite proud, and in a few hours of the early morning, she was able to turn the school's rooftop into an extravagant cafe that would make any London restaurant envious.

She managed to persuade the principal to allow her to use the place since all rooms and fields were occupied by the clubs, not to mention she promised to pay for the vase, so he couldn't flat out refuse, being partly responsible for his students.

She glanced over the side and saw people flooding through the school gates to attend the festivities, wondering where the others were. They had to change in to their uniforms, but they should've been done by now and met her up there. She heard the door open and turned around, only to be greeted by a curious Koutaro, wearing a dracula costume and looking very handsome as one too.

Puzzled as to why he was there, she walked over to him, "Koutaro-kun, aren't you part of the haunted house?"

He nodded, "Yes, but I wanted to check on you."

She gestured to her cafe and smiled nervously, rubbing the back of her head, "Well, it's the best I can do, with my allowance. Loki-sama and the others will be here shortly."

"Um, that's not what I meant," he sighed and stared at her, carefully. He seemed doubtful about something, so he asked her, "Is it really a good idea to get Loki to help? With all the crazy things that's been happening? It seems all he does is bring you trouble..."

She smiled and shook her head, "Iya, Loki-sama has been good to me. It's me that always cause trouble for him." She looked away, blushing, "Like this, I'm grateful that he and the others are helping me."

"If it's the vase, I could-"

The door opened again, before Koutaro could even offer to help pay for the vase, and Loki walked through first, looking super sexy and hot in his butler attire, not much different from the regular sophisticated, expensive clothing he wore. He was soon joined by the rest of the gods, wearing the same outfits, and even Heimdall had his mini-butler suit tailored to him, as well as Fenrir with his cute bowtie collar.

Narugami was the most uncomfortable of the lot, tugging at the collar several times, and still had Mjollnir slung over his back, giving him a rather rugged appearance. On the other hand, Yamino appeared calm and ready to work, though this job would be no different from his every day schedule at the agency, serving Loki, and the only difference was just an upgraded uniform from his simple one.

The only person truly accustomed to such extravagant, outrageous wear on a daily basis would be the reigning champion Freyr, who had additional customization of his attire with flowing cape - the first butler to ever to be donning one.

"Ah!" Mayura's face brightened, and she clasped her hands together, "Everyone looks so handsome!"

"Yamato Nadeshiko is much lovelier!"

A love-struck Freyr skipped towards Mayura, his arms wide open with the intention of embracing her, but she, being oblivious, moved towards Loki, so the clumsy god caught a very uncomfortable Koutaro in his arms. Embarrassed, both pushed away from each other, while Narugami and Fenrir snickered at the comical sight. Heimdall and Yamino just shook their heads, sweatdropping.

Mayura stepped up to Loki, who arched his brow in surprise, as her hands reached up to him, more specifically his tie, a smile playing on her lips, "It's a bit crooked, Loki-sama."

With a tug here and there, she straightened it out till he looked beyond perfect, smoothing out his collar and coat like a faithful wife would. Before she could retract her hands from his person, he had seized them within his own and drew them back to his chest, placing it over his heart, while their eyes never left each other. She blushed; he smiled.

Freyr's girlish scream interrupted them, and they sweatdropped and turned to see an angry Freyr and Koutaro shooting straight for them, wanting to strangle Loki for monopolizing the pink-haired girl.

For the third time and not the last time, the door flew open, interrupting all the drama and lovey-dovey stuff, and a sudden flood of overly excited females nearly broke down the door itself, for the chance to be dining at the butler cafe with a bunch of sexy, delicious butlers that shimmered like gods.

And Mayura didn't waste any time at the opportunity of making money, for the sake of the vase, shouting out her command, "GROUP POSE # 7!"

Upon her order, the gods scattered into their designated spots as rehearsed before, to present themselves in a spectacular manner to their female audience. Even Koutaro was amazed at his classmate's power over these handsome men, cute child and puppy, as strange as the combination seemed, and he wondered who all these oddballs were that happened to appear in her life.

A very peculiar mystery that needed to be looked in to.

Mayura took a snapshot and more, planning to make some money off all the photos and maybe future calendars too. She should've done this sooner, much much sooner! And somehow Koutaro got wrapped in to the whole flow of things, not that he minded since he was around Mayura, and his class' haunted house was one vampire short that day.

* * *

The click of her heels as they tread across the pavement, catching the attention of every male like a domino effect, all the way to the building entrance. All eyes were glued to the gorgeous backside, watching the sway of her hips as she walked, the gait of a sexy, confident woman. After she disappeared in to the building, the men were still hypnotized by the lovely sight, and eventually the brutal smacks from their jealous girlfriends snapped them out of the trance.

Wherever this woman went, drooling, ogling men followed, and this scenario repeated through four more floors till she finally came to her destination. She stood in front of the door, leading to the rooftop, and took a deep breath, eyes closed to focus on her task at hand, because this was going to be her dramatic entrance, to make a grand impression.

She readied herself and pushed forward, throwing the door open, and stepped in to the forefront, hands on her hips to bask in the glory of her beautiful image gracing his presence... yet only silence greeted Freya.

The goddess opened her eyes and looked around, jaw dropping at the busy butler cafe, about twenty women piled at a table - was that even possible? She couldn't believe her eyes, that the gods have been literally brought down from their heavenly thrones to be mere man servants to female mortals!

But Loki, Koutaro and Freyr appeared to be enjoying it, chattering with the girls and entertaining them, while Narugami, Yamino and Heimdall served snacks and drinks, and even Fenrir was being doted on - like a snapshot right out of a host club! All the while, Mayura was counting up the profits and trying to fit it in to the safe box, but she might need a second one because she could barely close it.

"More tea please!" a random girl waved.

"Coming!" Mayura chirped and hurried with a pitcher of tea. She smiled, passing by a shocked Freya, "Hello, Freya-sama!"

"Wh-What's going on here?!"

After refilling some empty glasses, the cheerful girl returned to the goddess and helped her to an empty chair. She fanned some fresh air to the blonde's way, telling her take it easy and breathe. Yamino handed a glass of sweet tea to Mayura, who gave it to Freya, hoping to relax her a bit.

"It's good to see you again, Freya-sama," Mayura smiled.

The goddess looked up to her, surprised at such a warm welcoming, though she had hoped that Loki would take her into his arms and hugged her and kissed her, and Mayura noticed that Freya was apparently feeling better now since she seemed to be preoccupied with her thoughts.

Loki walked over and was surprised to see the goddess had joined them, but she had such a dreamy look that he didn't want to interrupt, so he glanced to Mayura, gesturing a questioning hand towards Freya. She shook her head, not knowing what went on in the goddess' head, and stared pointedly at him, thinking that he could probably snap her out of the goofy stupor. He gave her a flat expression, questioning her if she was serious about it, because they both knew Freya would just pounce on him like usual.

Mayura smiled nervously and just shrugged, not really wanting to, but they couldn't just leave a zoned out Freya all day, to which Loki rolled his eyes in response, because he would gladly leave her like that just so he could have some peace and quiet. The two conversed like this, without words for the next few minutes - for fear that a single noise could awaken the goddess - until Freya came out of her daydream by herself, blinking at Loki 'eye smexing' to Mayura.

"LOKI!" she cried and threw her arms around a surprised god, "How I've missed you!"

"Ah... it's uh, nice of you to visit, Freya," he smiled nervously, while many of his fangirls in the background glared at the touchy-feely goddess. He was more worried about Mayura's reaction to this situation, but the girl appeared to have wandered off, leaving him to the she-wolf and kept herself busy with serving their customers. He watched the mortal girl going about from one table to another, thinking that she needed a punishment for leaving him alone with Freya.

"Loki~!"

"Hrm?"

Freya pressed a finger to his chest, inching it up to his tie, poking at it playfully, "You still owe me a date~!"

"I do?"

Yes, Loki had still owed her one from the time Freya stayed at the Daidouji house, and in exchange for her to keep her identity and theirs a secret from Mayura's father, he had to bribe her with a date, and now Freya was on Midgard to collect it - such bad timing to ruin his fun.

A promise was a promise, but that didn't mean he couldn't delay it as long as possible, in to like the future never!

"As you can see, Freya," he started, "I'm a bit busy here..."

"Oh Loki-sama," came Mayura's very calm voice, and she appeared in front of them, "you can take a break."

Loki sweatdropped at the very stiff smile the girl was wearing and wondered if she had heard their conversation.

"Why don't you take Freya-sama around the festival, Loki-sama, on your date!"

Okay, she did hear, and the way she emphasized the last word made him cringe. Freya had completely agreed that he showed her around the mortal event, but apparently with two women against him, he had lost. He gave Mayura one final pleading look that she almost wavered, worried about him, but she believed in keeping promises, even if it was made to another female.

"AH! FREYA!" Freyr's voice cut in, and for once, Loki was very relieved at the idiot's appearance, grabbing the blonde goddess' hand, attempting to separate the two immortals, "Freyr will not let Freyr's sister near Loki!"

"Nii-sama! Let go!"

The siblings began fighting each other, arguing loudly, that Loki was soon forgotten, and the god took this chance and grabbed Mayura, making a run for the door, both disappearing from sight. By the time Freya had yanked her hand out of her brother's hold, she turned back to an empty spot next to her, "LOKI!"

Freyr, satisfied that he had protected his sister, looked around for his love interest too, "Yamato Nadeshiko?"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Will you two shut up!" Heimdall growled at them, throwing an apron at Freya, not caring to know why she even showed up - the more hands on deck, the better! "Get your butts over here and work!"

* * *

Of course, with the excitement that was the typical school festival, the Frigg Brigade - the trio aptly dubbed themselves since they needed some catchy name (besides the _Fried Fish Bowl_ restaurant team) worthy of their beloved queen and goddess - could not miss this event, because according to Hilin, Baldur enjoyed these types of events where people gather to follow and praise him. And it was a school, an educational institution that promoted learning and stuff, which Baldur would advocate.

Hilin, standing on top of a _takoyaki_ booth, was scouring the area like she was a pirate on lookout for land, and the booth attendants were not happy, but she didn't care what they, or anyone, thought. While the red-head was busy with her mission, Fullia was having the time of her life, playing games, taking in the sights, and stuffing her face with all the free food the boys bought for her.

That left poor Gina to wander aimlessly and blindly with her gloomy cloud, running into a pole, a few random people, tripped over a box and fell into a pool of fish. The people around her asked if she was okay, and she got up and continued walking like nothing happened, even though she was drenched, and eventually made a lap around the field because she bumped in to Hilin, who had just hopped from her lofty height to the ground again.

"Dammit, Gina!" she yelled, "Watch where you're goin'!"

"Sorry, Hilin-san!" she bowed to the octopus mascot by the _takoyaki_ stand.

Hilin slapped her forehead, groaning. She had enough of the blind Gina and pointed to her, ordering, "I command you to cut your bangs?!"

Lightning flashed from the cloud, and thunder rumbled, and the many people around them fled. The dark blue aura increasing in size was a bad sign, and even Hilin faltered a tiny bit, sweating. Gina, with her bangs still in the way, screamed like a crazy insane asylum patient, both hands clenching and unclenching as if she wanted to twist something in her hands to make the madness go away.

As fast as that appeared, the dreadful feeling faded away, leaving a meek Gina bowing to her superior, "I-I'm sorry, Hilin-san... but I can't obey this order... because... because Frigg-sama said my bangs were cute..." She giggled and blushed, recalling the memory of her dear queen.

The corner of Hilin's lip twitched, and Fullia popped up next to her, out of nowhere, eating a banana and carrying a watermelon in her arm. The red-head glanced over to her, staring at the watermelon, wondering if she should even asked where the thing came from.

"I found something good," the blonde grinned.

"It's... not the melon, is it?" Hilin had to make sure.

"Umm, even better!"

"Baldur-sama?!"

"I forgot."

Hilin was too tired to face-palm, so she said, "Just... retrace your steps, please..."

Wow, she said 'please'... it must be the end of the world!

* * *

Thank the divine powers of the Yggdrasil System, because it went right to work at the sign of trouble that dared to break the contracted bond of a god and mortal, not that the pair really depended on the wish anymore. It just made life that much simpler and less worrisome when one knew that the great system of the gods was taking care of things, though the jealousy and insecurities was something they would have to work out between them.

But said unofficial couple was smiling and laughing now at the ridiculousness of the siblings that they were actually grateful for because their bickering allowed them a chance to enjoy the festivities together. Hand in hand, side by side, they walked, still dressed in their server wear, not that they cared, through the hallways and eventually to the outside.

And many stalkers soon followed, though neither really paid attention, only eyes focusing on each other.

"Ah!"

Mayura pointed to the chocolate fondue fountain, her sweet tooth kicking in, and hurried over to it, pulling a content Loki with her. There was an array of fruits and candies and cakes that could be dipped in to the chocolate, and she chose the largest strawberry, letting the warm chocolate liquid drip over the fruit, covering every inch of it. She took a bite of it, savoring the delicious sweetness with a bit of tang, and then held it out to Loki, offering him a taste.

He chuckled, seeing all the chocolate smeared over her lips and mouth, and held her chin between his thumb and index finger, lifting her head up towards him, as he leaned down to her. Her eyes grew wide, with his lips descending upon hers, his warm breath intermingling with hers, and neither remembered that they were still in a very public place. He could smell the chocolate from her mouth, his lips barely brushed hers, so soft and warm. He was gentle at first, teasing her, then became more firm, a flicker of his tongue across her lips, licking the sweetness...

"AH! PDA ALERT!"

Loki's sweatdropping head fell on Mayura's shoulder, and the girl blushed red but then panicked at recognition of the trio in front of them. He felt the abrupt change in her mood and body and stood up, turning around to meet their adversaries.

"I found them!" Fullia gave her comrades a toothy grin, now eating a fifth slice of watermelon - how she was able to cut it and eat it through four slices during the time frame was a mystery - the juice dribbling down her shirt. "Awesome make out session!" she waggled her brows at them until Hilin smacked the back of her head, and the couple sweatdropped.

"Dammit!" Hilin fumed, not expecting to run in to their enemies.

Loki sighed, pressing a hand lightly to his forehead, wondering aloud, "If this wasn't a coincidence, then I would believe they're stalking us."

Gina, very offended, pointed blindly to a random person, thinking it was Loki, "The only person I'd ever stalk..." Fullia, still eating, corrected her ally by moving the pointing finger towards a sweatdropping Loki, as the dark-haired continued, "would be Frigg-sama!"

Hilin pulled out her mop, and Gina her gun, and that left Fullia to finish eating, so she pulled one feather duster from her blouse, preparing for an all out fight. And by now, they had drawn a crowd of curious spectator, believing the scene before them as a part of some unannounced performance for the visitors.

"Wait a minute!" Mayura shouted, stopping them, "There are way too many people here."

"Who cares!" Hilin scoffed, "As long as we retrieve Baldur-sama, we don't care who gets hurt!"

Loki inquired, "Why are you searching for Baldur anyway?"

"For Frigg-sama's sake!" Gina bellowed, pointing her gun at another random bystander.

"A-ha!" Fullia exclaimed, an epiphany struck her (and not a rock), "I know why we haven't been able to find Baldur-sama!" They all stared at her, awaiting her dramatic answer to grace them. "Because," she resumed, "THEY have Baldur-sama!"

"We don't!" Mayura cried.

Loki sighed, "The last time any of us saw him was at the battle at Yggdrasil."

Hilin frowned, realizing that it all made sense, "I was right from the beginning! You DID have Baldur-sama imprisoned all this time! No wonder we couldn't find him at all! Not even at his favorite places to eat! His favorite games he'd play! Or... or events he would enjoy watching! Loki, you evil villain-"

"That's redundant," he snarked.

"You abducted our precious Baldur-sama for evil deeds! Unforgivable!"

"Please. I prefer cute, pretty girls," he stated and pulled Mayura to him, wrapping an arm around her body from behind. With a hand under her chin, he lifted her head up gently as he leaned down to her neck, giving her a bite, and she squeaked in embarrassment, while the audience gasped and some fainted. He glared in the trio's appalled direction, "Not stupid, spoiled, mama's boys... like Baldur."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Hilin roared, "How dare you insult Baldur-sama, even if there was some truth to those words! And of course you would lie to us! You are the trickster god, deceitful and evil! RELEASE Baldur-sama NOW!"

Still in the god's embrace, Mayura huffed out annoyingly, "Mou! You guys are really stubborn."

"And stupid," Loki deadpanned.

It appeared that the fighting couldn't be avoided, so Loki summoned Laevateinn in his hand as he gently ushered Mayura behind him, just as the people around them clapped - some laughing, some smiling and complimenting on a great show and how real Loki's magic was!

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, _Ouran High School Host Club_ reference! It made me think which MLR character would match up with each of the Host Club cast best... It's tough, but my list would be Loki as Tamaki though personality-wise Kyoya would be better; Heimdall would be "Honey" 'cause I'd leave him as a kid, lol; Narugami as "Mori"; Mayura with a wig on as Haruhi 'cause I love Mayura's long hair, lol; Yamino and human-Fenrir as Kaoru and Hikaru; hm, oddball Freyr doesn't fit as Kyoya, so maybe reverse Loki's and Freyr's roles... lol. Anyway, was just playing around with the idea, lol.

Anyway, I feel like I'm rushing this a bit... typing a lot, because I want to get Hel-chan, Baldur... Eir, and Spica in soon! Yes, Spica! My current outline goes up to a mid-season intermission of summer vacation for Mayura-tachi, which I'm excited about! *gets giddy* -kuro.


	34. Chapter 34

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-Four.**

"Huh?"

Narugami squinted and leaned over the side of the roof for a better look at the crowd below. He could see Loki and Mayura pitted against the familiar blonde, red-head, and brunette in the middle of the festivities and people were actually cheering and clapping down there. And when had the two sneaked off from work, which wasn't the problem right now, Narugami!

"Oi Megane," he called, "Guys, I think Loki and Daidouji are in trouble."

The rest of the pantheon of gods joined Narugami, forgetting their female and some male clientele. At the sight of their respective love interest in trouble, the siblings freaked out and ran towards the exit first, and Loki's two sons soon followed them.

Heimdall ran a hand through his hair, frustrated, "Can't believe I'm doing this..."

Narugami grinned, "Heh, helping Loki? Or serving mortals cake and tea?"

"Shut it, Thor," he growled and stomped off, with a laughing god of thunder right behind him, which left...

Koutaro and their customers blinked, confused, as they watch their butlers walk away without serving and entertaining them anymore. After a brief acceptance of the situation, they all turned their eyes back on to the sole employee of the butler cafe, the poor vampire holding a tray of cakes in one hand and a pitcher of tea in another, left eye twitching at being left alone to fend for himself... and Mayura's cafe.

Yes, he was doing this for Mayura, but wouldn't it be better to just close shop and write a check for the vase?! His own allowance could cover at least five antique vases!

* * *

"This is very serious!" Mayura flailed her arms to the crowd, trying to get them to leave, because the three dangerous females didn't hold back when it came to a fight. Her first-hand experiences was all too clear in her mind, and she didn't need any casualties on her conscience when her school was going to be a future battle ground.

But unfortunately, no one took the girl's warning seriously, and apparently even those at the center of attention were too focused on the battle at hand to bother with the mortal audience, especially Hilin, whose mop was pointed directly at Loki, "I'm telling you, one more time, to release Baldur-sama!"

Loki glared at her, seeing that they were not going to believe his words and were very earnest in executing their threat of major hurt on him and those around him. He normally wouldn't have any hesitation in retaliating, but it was just too risky, not when he had someone important to him to protect. He could sense Mayura's uneasiness behind him, knowing how worried she was for the people around him, who were completely oblivious to the dangers.

"Loki-sama..."

"Mayura, stay back," he advised, and for once, she wasn't going to protect because the graveness in his voice told her that he wasn't going to take any arguments from her right now.

"Oi Loki!" Narugami called, appearing from the throngs of people, along with the rest of Asgard's immortals, "Don't leave us out of the fun!"

"Loki-sama, we're here to help!" Yamino jogged over to his father's side with Fenrir.

"Freyr will be the one to protect Yamato Nadeshiko!"

Freya exclaimed, "I can't allow these women to interrupt our future date!"

"I just want to go home," Heimdall sighed, reluctantly joining the others to surround their enemies.

"Damn you, Loki!" Hilin growled, "You had reinforcements all along, you coward!"

'Oi, you hag! Don't insult my daddy!' Fenrir barked, 'You're the one fighting three against one!'

"Hilin-san," Gina started, "Um, I don't think this is a good idea..."

"Of course not, but we have no choice!" Hilin raised her mop in to the air, shouting, "But for Frigg-sama's sake!"

"YES, FOR FRIGG-SAMA!" Gina, whose eyes had garnered the more psychotic look at the mention of their dear queen, had turned the knob of her gun to something randomly ridiculous, such as flame thrower... "FRIGG-SAMA~!" she cried and stepped forward, aiming her gun at no one in particular and pulled the trigger...

Nothing happened.

She pressed it again, and still nothing. Everyone, including the audience, sweatdropped.

"Um..." Gina looked at her weapon, noting the blinking battery sign, "I forgot to recharge it."

They all fell over, allies and enemies alike, but Hilin was the first to recover, swinging the mop at Loki, "ATTACK ANYWAY!"

Gina threw her gun, and it managed to smack Freyr right in the face, while Fullia kicked half her melon towards Narugami who sliced it in half with Mjollnir, and pulled out her second feather duster. Fully armed with her cleaning tools, the blonde skipped forward and jumped at Freya, who blocked the strike with a frying pan and shoved her back. Fullia flipped back in mid-air and brought the two dusters in front of her and shot out a bunch of sharp feathers at the goddess.

Freya jumped out of the way while Narugami smacked the projectiles back at the flying blonde, who comically dodged her own weapons.

* * *

Freyr rubbed his face and stood up angrily, facing a frustrated Gina, who was trying to find her spare gun but all that came out of her sleeves were cloths and spray bottles of cleaning solutions. For daring to mar his handsome face and humiliating him in front of his Yamato Nadeshiko, he summoned his magical wand from his cape and waved it dramatically in the air, "I chose you, Gullinbursti!"

The sky above them darkened just a bit and split open, and the spectators' jaw opened.

"Wow, this is an awesome show," someone commented.

"The special effects are so real!"

"Is that... a giant pig?!"

And said giant pig fell through the rip in the skies and would've landed on the innocent bystanders if they hadn't been smart and quick enough to move out of the way.

With Gullinbursti behind him, Freyr grinned smugly and pointed the wand at Gina, throwing his cape to the side and letting it catch the random breeze to give him the wanted dramatic flare, "For your violation against beauty and Yamato Nadeshiko, Kaitou Freyr will punish you!

"Go, Gullinursti, go!"

The giant pig hopped over his master, charging right for Gina. She decided the barrel of pesticides would work, so she attached a huge nozzle on it and sprayed it against the magical beast, causing it little irritation because he was a pig, not a pesky insect, but it did annoy the people and Heimdall, who no longer enjoyed that part of the show.

Heimdall, tired of all of Freyr's fancy, magical stuff, just walked over to a busy Gina and shoved her away from her makeshift weapon. He sweatdropped out how easy that had been, and Gullinbursti happily stomped the barrel with one of his stumpy foot.

* * *

Loki blocked Hilin's strike with Laevateinn and gathered fire in to his other hand. She jumped back when the fireball shot out of his hand, disappearing in to the skies, all eyes following it in magical awe, and still in mid-air, she slashed the mop in a horizontal direction, sending an arc of air hitting the earth, digging a gash right in to the ground, only inches from Loki's position.

Yamino threw a tea tray through the air, like it was a frisbee, at Hilin, and followed the attack with four forks from one hand and four knives from the other, conveniently borrowing them from the butler cafe - so Koutaro was short a few utensils. The red-head sliced the tray in half and smashed each set of projectiles out of the way, but she missed the third set... that was really Fenrir being thrown at her.

Surprised at the insane move, Fenrir cannonballed in to her stomach and before he fell away, he bit her arm, and she cried out, flailing her arm wildly until it made him dizzy and he unlatched from her, falling out of the skies. Yamino quickly moved in to catch his brother safely in his arms, but all that just made Hilin ever pissed, practically foaming at the mouth in anger.

Yamino sweatdropped, "Nii-san, do you-"

Fenrir glared, 'I DO NOT HAVE RABIES!'

* * *

While the gods were fighting their battles, Mayura could only watch them worriedly from a distance, unsure of how to help but not wanting to get in the way either. Her hands clenched the hem of her skirt, baring her knuckles white, and she bit her bottom lip, anxious with every second Loki was engaged against a red-aura glowing Hilin, who was relentless in every swing, every thrust of the mop, a few times coming close to wounding the god.

She watched him block a strike but get kicked in the side. He didn't fall, just braced himself as he skidded across the ground.

"Lo-!"

Ah, poor Mayura never got to finish calling out to him because of the hand that covered her mouth. She grabbed on to the arm, but another arm snaked around her waist and held her in place, as she continued to struggle against her captor. The people behind them gasped and ooh'ed and aah'ed at the unexpected twist in the play.

* * *

Loki twisted away just as Hilin slammed the shaft end of the mop to the ground, causing a small explosion of debris in to the air. He heard the surprise from Yamino's voice and whipped his head over to Mayura, who was now in the clutches of a fourth person, one that he did not recognize, but the Frigg Brigade knew her very well. Hilin, nearly frozen in her spot, was now nervous and less lethal in appearance, almost to a point of strange submission.

This situation had caused the other mini-battles to halt and became a sort of stalemate, as the gods stared in horror at the apparent abduction of their mortal hostess.

"Eir-sama," Hilin bowed after joining the woman's side with her comrades.

"I can no longer leave this matter to you," her voice sounded lifeless and cold, but Hilin could not protest, considering that they had failed several times already.

The look of fear in Mayura's eyes was different this time, and it was much worse for Loki, because Mayura was now a true hostage at the hands' of his enemies - her life, so fragile like a sweet flower caught in the chaos of a storm. Her importance to him was indescribable, most knew of this yet did not voice their thoughts, but he had to remain calm and unattached to have the upper hand... as if he could do that...

"She has nothing to do with this!" Loki yelled, moving towards them, anger rising to the surface.

"Stop," Eir commanded, and it was obvious that this strange, emotionless woman had no qualms about dispatching her mortal captive if need be, even the spectators shuddered at the iciness of her tone.

"In exchange for this mortal's life," she started, "you will bring Baldur-sama to us."

"We don't have him!" he growled.

"Then find him. You have twelve hours. We will contact you."

"And don't try anything funny!" Hilin scowled, as the wind around them became restless, spiraling at their feet and gaining altitude. Fear of losing her, Loki with his sons made a dash for them, but the kidnappers had disappeared with Mayura in their hold.

He stared in that one spot for the longest of time, ignoring all the cheers and compliments of a wonderful performance and even questions asking about the group of pretty women disappearing, and in a burst of frustration, he jammed the end of Laevateinn in to the ground, hanging his head low, berating himself at what kind of powerful god couldn't protect those important to him. He had constantly put her in to danger, but not once had she complained or even hated him for bringing his troubles to her.

She was such an accepting soul that it tore him up inside, like a part of him had gone missing.

He was staring down at Laevateinn, feeling an emptiness in his chest, the warmth that used to fill his heart when she was around had faded, and he felt a chill trickle down his spine, gradually simmering in to out right fury. If anything ever happened to her, happened to Mayura, he wouldn't know what to do... but he would never forgive himself.

* * *

Somewhere in a very dark room, one of the double doors opened, allowing a bit of light to shine inside, and a young woman entered. The length of her wavy hair swayed after her, as each step she took was soundless and ghost-like, gliding across the floor until she reached the bedside, situated in the center of the vast room. The edges of darkness hidden in the endless pitch black.

She raised a hand to the sheer curtains, while the other held a book, and pulled it aside, revealing the peaceful face of Baldur. One would never have thought this was the image of a very arrogant, cunning and envious god of Asgard, the favorite son of Odin who was brought down by Loki, Hel-chan's own father, and she smiled at the thought.

But now, there were far more important things that mattered to her than holding Baldur there in Helheim, more specifically in her own palace of Eljundnir, where very few could enter and even fewer could leave unscathed, nor alive but then most people were dead in the Underworld anyway.

"It is time, Baldur-sama," she spoke quietly, "Awaken."

* * *

Her head was pounding so hard, like Narugami taking Mjollnir and beating the side of her head with it or the bickering of Freyr and Freya as they argued, or the similar sound to her heart when it quickened every time Loki was near her. She could see the image of his face in her mind, and her eyes opened, hoping to see him again, but she was met by the old rusty sight of metal beams and lofty ceiling.

She slowly sat herself up, trying to figure out where she was and what had happened, eventually recalling Loki disappearing from her vision. She looked around frantically, in the middle of what appeared to be an empty warehouse, no longer in her maid outfit because she was now wearing something akin to a white, wedding gown, her hair completely pulled up in to a fancy bun, with loose strands framing her heart-shaped face. She sweatdropped at her gorgeous appearance, not hating it but was it really appropriate for a prisoner?

And then there was her comfortable bedding, which was actually made of really expensive-looking materials, fit for a royalty, clashing against the ugliness and dreariness of the scenery.

"You're awake," Eir sounded unenthusiastic, seated a few feet away in an luxurious, antique armchair that probably cost twice as much as the vase she destroyed if she wanted to compare the value, staring at her.

"Ano... who are you?"

"My name is Eir."

Mayura looked at her a bit uncertain about something, asking anyway, "Eir-sama, like the others... Are you... um, as crazy as they are? I'm not saying that you are nor look it, but lately, appearances can be deceiving."

"I am skilled and competent."

She sweatdropped and guessed that was all she would get from that question, so she tried another one, "What do you want with Baldur-sama?"

"Frigg-sama would like her son back."

"But we aren't lying," Mayura insisted," We haven't seen Baldur-sama since Yggdrasil."

Eir continued to stare at the mortal, assessing her facial muscles and posture, her body temperature, her heart rate, and the tone of her voice, computing all the factors within her head, and came to the conclusion that she was speaking the truth, "Even so, he has no choice but to comply with our demands."

"You don't seem like bad people," she started, appearing hopeful, as she slid towards the edge of the mattress, "All of you care for Frigg-sama and Baldur-sama very much. If we talk this out, I'm sure Loki-sama would be glad to cooperate!" She stood up, letting the layers of the skirt drop to the ground, matching a steady gaze against Eir's own, but the void in her eyes disturbed Mayura, as if she had no soul.

* * *

Yamino poured a hot cup of tea and placed it on the counter, "Here you go, Freyr-san."

He sweatdropped at the tearful god, stuffing his face with _taiyaki_ treats with red bean paste, somehow managing to mutter out a 'thanks' through all the sweets. The poor guy was heartbroken from Mayura's abduction and had been in tears ever since, and Yamino wondered which extreme he prefered: Freyr's loud sobbing or Loki's silent anger stewing up a storm in his study.

"Please don't do anything reckless, Freyr-san."

Yamino sighed, and after a nod of acknowledgement from said god, he was able to leave the kitchen with the hot tea for his father and some taiyaki he was able to sneak out of Freyr's possession for his hungry brother. He slipped out of the kitchen and headed upstairs, the silence of the house had become unfamiliar gloomy, missing the bright, cheerfulness of one mortal girl.

He wasn't even half way up the stairs when Fenrir had appeared from the hallway, looking upset and annoyed.

"Nii-san, is Loki-sama all right?"

'Daddy's not talking... He's... staring at the clock.' He sat at the top of the stairs, looking at Yamino, 'Is Midget back yet?'

"Eh, no... Heimdall-san hasn't called either."

'Dunno what he expects to find with his one eye and pet bird. Daddy can't even see that white thread, like last time.'

"I'm sure Heimdall-san will find something. He is the best person to track the divine energies." Yamino then looked upwards, as if staring beyond the barriers of the house, "I hope Narugami-san and Freya-san can do something about it in Asgard."

* * *

"You have much faith in Loki," Eir stated, standing up, and smoothly diminished the space between her and Mayura, surprising the girl when she grabbed her under chin roughly with one hand, turning it slightly to the side.

Mayura grabbed Eir's forearm, trying to resist, but her hold was too strong, at least she wasn't being choked to death. "I'll always believe in Loki-sama!" she declared.

Eir's other hand had brushed over Mayura's neck, examining the mark that Loki had left - from the brief moment he had bit her. "You are important to him," she eyed the brand of the trickster god, who dared to claim a mortal as his possession, very bold for a god of his status to do.

Then she brought the girl's face back towards her, gazing in to her wide crimson eyes, "Is he only a god in your heart?"

* * *

"Odin-sama!"

Freya was practically running down the red carpet of the throne room, reaching the steps to Odin's throne within seconds, with a hesitant Narugami trailing way behind her because he didn't want to return to Asgard when he was trying to get away from it in the first place, but Mayura's abduction changed it all. Mayura was a good friend, not to mention a cute maiden in distress, so the god of justice in him couldn't overlook the matter.

As for the blonde goddess, as much as Mayura was a hindrance to her relationship with Loki and a formidable rival, Freya would not accept a default victory if the mortal was out of the picture. She had too much pride for that and hated to admit that even Mayura's kindness had grown a teeny bit on her - who else could give her a warm, sincere welcome to Midgard!

"Hm?" Odin looked up, shuffling the _Lucky Star_ manga within the book he was reading, putting it discretely in the space between the cushion of the seat and the armrest, and pretended to be surprised, "Freya, you've returned earlier from your trip. Did you bring me souvenirs?"

He raised a brow at the appearance of his son, "And Thor?"

"'sup, father," he waved.

Odin disregarded the informal greeting, "You two are... an odd combination. But since you've return, Thor, we can discuss your marriage arrangements."

"Eh, no thanks!"

Freya stood her ground, frowning, "Odin-sama, there is a more important matter on Midgard we must discuss!"

The Almighty's eyes flashed an angry red, causing Freya and Narugami to flinch, but the latter insisted, "Father! You must know what's been going on in Midgard, since you're always sitting on the throne!

"Frigg's servants have been causing trouble for us! And now they've kidnapped our friend!"

"Then why don't you talk to Frigg about this?" Odin said calmly.

Narugami pointed to his father, "You're her husband! Be a man and face her!"

"Look, the last time I had to deal with her, I didn't have a beard for three hundred years. Do you know how long it took me to grow it back?!" Odin sighed and rubbed his face, "The last thing any of us need is Frigg with a temper tantrum."

Freya and Narugami sweatdropped, knowing how true that was, but the god of thunder asked, "Um, so she doesn't exactly know what happened to Baldur?"

"Well," it was Odin's turn to sweatdrop, "I told her he was running an errand for me on Midgard..." The two immortals, standing below, glared at him. "WHAT?! How was I supposed to tell her that her only son was gravely wounded in battle?! If the Yggdrasil System didn't bring down Asgard, Frigg would have!"

"Geez, father, you sure sound scared of her!"

"Try being married to her for a few thousand years," Odin snorted, pulling his book back to his lap, "And besides, your problem should be resolved soon."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

Without looking at them, he opened his book again, not wanting to reveal much, but then again, he was the Almighty, king of all the gods and the good stuff, yet he was afraid of his wife like the majority of husbands were. He motioned his hand at them, like shooing them away, "You best hurry back, before shit happens..."

Freya and Narugami glanced at each other, quizzically, and then both turned away, thinking they better hurry back to Loki and the others, and Odin gave them one more warning:

"Seriously. Watch out for Eir."

* * *

"Ne ne, is this the place?"

Fullia's bright eyes stared at the three-story, European-styled mansion plastered against the beautiful evening skies, giving the landscape an ethereal glow, as she leaned half her body out of a _Toyota Vitz_, "Why can't we live in a house like that?" *****

Hilin, in the driver's seat, wanted so badly to kick the blonde's ass out of the vehicle, but she amazingly restrained herself because they needed everyone for the mission. "Because," she gritted her teeth and the steering wheel, "we don't get paid very much."

Gina, in the back seat, sighed contently, "Frigg-sama's love is our only true payment!"

"Dammit, Fullia! Just give them the message!" the red-head rubbed her face wearily, "We need to get back to that bossy bitch and make a back up plan in case this fail, which I hope it does 'cause we gotta prove to Frigg-sama that we are better! So much better than that-"

A loud crash interrupted Hilin's monologue, and she screamed at Fullia, who had just thrown a brick through the front window of Enjaku Detective Agency, "You could've at least given me a warning!" The lights turned on in several rooms and the front door opened, just as Hilin stepped on the gas pedal, speeding the car roughly down the road.

Yamino and Freyr stepped out, catching a glimpse of a small, red car swerving down several lanes of traffic, nevermind that the other two lanes had oncoming cars - not sure if they wanted to know how beings from Asgard were able to drive it, obviously no license obtaining was involved.

The Tokyo traffic division was going to have a field day with this part of the district in the next few hours, since Yamino could already see several smoke clouds drifting in to the air, due to some collisions along the road. He held the brick in his hand and examined it, when a surly Loki appeared behind the two, with Fenrir.

Yamino showed him the brick with a message ductaped to it, "Loki-sama, we have a location for the exchange."

* * *

***** Toyota _Vitz_, also called the Yaris and Echo in international markets and different generations, is a line of hatchback subcompact cars produced by said company, lol... I could just imagine the Frigg Brigade driving this little thing! All squished in the thing with their weapons and cleaning tools, lol.

* * *

**Notes:** Sorry, this is continuing in to next chapter! I swear the next chapter'll close this subplot! Lol, I originally thought this chapter would be short, but I added so many small scenes in this one that eventually made it long. And I wasn't sure if I was going to post it tonight or not, lol... but I guess I will!

I've been sorta questioning the relationship between Mayura & Loki, and I guess most people are too? Like EchizenRyoma, hehe. But this will get Mayura thinking more deeply about it... now that Eir has brought it up. Loki, for his part, knows that Mayura is important to him, but how far is he willing to go with her? Hmmm, he doesn't know yet! Heh. But we'll see in the coming chapters! I'll leave it at that for now! *yawns* Work work work... buu... -kuro.


	35. Chapter 35

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-Five.**

Eir dropped Mayura back on to the comfortable mattress, letting the girl mull over their conversation, obviously deeply worried over the subject of Loki, the trickster god of fire that had willingly returned to Midgard to be with this mortal girl. Despite her ultimate command of following Frigg's orders, Eir found the situation between the god and mortal to be rather curious, ever since the two fell in to her radar.

She studied the girl in front of her, every single emotion that flickered across her innocent face, reading her like the pages of an open book. Confusion and worry were evident, and sometimes even annoyance, but in her eyes, pure happiness and much affection with a shimmer of laughter contradicted her other feelings, and Eir wondered how anyone could hold so many emotions at once for one person.

Mortals were such strange creatures...

The sound of screeching tires echoed from outside, snapping both from their thoughts, and they turned towards the direction of the sound, which was followed by the sight of a car crashing through the brick wall of the warehouse. Eir had no reaction, but Mayura sweatdropped, gripping the skirt of her lovely bridal gown, which she had forgotten inquire about.

"Th-That's some entrance," the girl sighed, watching the trio get out of the car.

Gina tumbled out of the back window and looked at the many doors they could have used to enter the building, as Hilin kicked the driver side door off its hinges because there was no way there were going to use the vehicle again.

Fullia, strangely, got out of her seat the normal way and slammed the door, only for it to fall apart afterwards. She bounded over to Mayura, clapping, "Yay, you're awake!" She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the girl, "Sooo~ how do you like your makeover?"

"Ano," Mayura blinked and looked down at herself one more time, "I'm... not marrying anyone... am I?"

She shrugged, "I got soo~ bored~!"

The mortal sweatdropped, thinking makeovers for a hostage would be the last thing anyone would do, and Fullia seemed so interested in her that it was very nerving, practically shoving her face in to Mayura's for closer inspection of her handiwork, but she was suddenly yanked back by Hilin, "There's no time for goofing around! They'll be here soon!

"What are you planning to do, Eir-sama?" she questioned the woman in charge, having planned to let Eir do all the fighting, so both sides could wear out, and then she and her comrades would finish them off - wasn't that a coward's plan?

* * *

Somewhere along Tokyo Bay, the stretch of beautiful waters reflecting the glowing sphere of the moon, and the velvet skies were clear of clouds and littered with twinkling stars. The sound of a falcon echoed across the waters, followed by the ominous sight of one soaring through the air.

Heimdall had jumped down from a very high rooftop and landed nimbly on the ground. He had tracked down the specific energies of Asgard to this certain port and found himself surrounded by many warehouses and storage units. Gjallar had circled a specific location a few times before flying down to his master and perched on his shoulder. He quietly moved about the area, searching for any evidence of their enemies or Mayura.

He turned the corner when he spotted a huge hole in a wall and sweatdropped, pretty much assuming that he had just hit the jackpot here. He could hear an 'oh shit, they're here' and sighed, a bit late on contacting the others, not that he needed to because Loki quickly came in to view, running down the port side.

"How did you guys find this place?" Heimdall wondered.

"They contacted us," Yamino explained.

"I just arrived here too." He jerked a thumb towards the hole, "They're inside."

Loki didn't hesitate to charge ahead, with an ecstatic Freyr right behind him, and Heimdall followed them, leaving Yamino to glance at his brother, who returned his amused smile with a glare, recalling that he had scoffed at Heimdall's attempt in tracking their enemies down. 'Don't you say it, Jormungand!' he barked and scurried off.

Yamino tried not to laugh and jogged after him, in to the very dark warehouse. He could make out the figures of the gods in the distance, and Loki's voice reverberated through the place, calling out for Mayura. Heimdall tried to push back the darkness with his powers, which worked for a bit, then the whole room was flooded with bright lights. They shielded their eyes from the momentary blindness, and when their sights adjusted, Loki was the first one to be alarmed.

"Mayura!" he shouted at the sight of her dangling figure from the rafters, a sense of déjà vu from the last time she was used as bait, literally, by Heimdall, but the only difference this time was the outfit she was wearing and she was awake and gagged. He made a mental note of that, along with a mental snapshot that involved a fancy dress and rope (yes, rope... lol), as he took a few steps forward.

"Stop right there!" Hilin shouted, jumping down from the high beams, along side Fullia and Gina, and all were dressed in maid uniforms and armed with their signature weapons, though Gina's had quite a few back up guns attached to her person.

"Where is Baldur-sama?!"

"..."

"Ho~! Quite bold of you to turn up empty handed!" She pointed the mop at Mayura, "You've just sealed her fate!"

Loki, had enough of their dirty methods, summoned a lot of fire and blasted at the trio, but Hilin swung the mop down, slashing the flames aside, surprising all the gods. He used Laevateinn to cast a higher level flame spell that hit the women, but when the magical dispersed, the three were untorched, like their weapons.

The red-head stood proudly, a hand on her hip and the other holding the mop at her side, and cackled, "Surprised, huh! We fire proofed our weapons!"

"And these cute clothes!" Fullia giggled, twirling around in her outfit.

Eir appeared, arms crossed over her chest, on a beam near Mayura, who glanced in the woman's direction, eyes pleading for them to stop fighting. She ignored their prisoner and watched the scene unfold below them, speaking quietly, "You will be his downfall, one day."

* * *

"Your fire will be useless! RYAAAAH~!" Hilin shouted a battle cry and charge ahead. She had only taken one step when the roof came down upon them. She dodged the debris, but not Narugami who dived straight down at her with Mjollnir gripped in his hands, the wooden sword sparkling with lightning. He sure knew how to make a dramatic entrance, earning that well deserved nickname of "Flashy Pants" from Fenrir.

She brought up the mop, as he aimed for her, grinning, "I bet it's not lightning proof! HO~RYAAAAH~!"

Narugami's white aura clashed against Hilin's red one, two very strong powers colliding. Wooden blade against wooden shaft...

* * *

Fullia, smiling, pointed a feather duster at Heimdall, "Would you like to play, Chibi?"

The vein on his forehead pulsated at the insulting nickname, not that he wanted a nickname either. His fingers twitched, and he took off the glove from his right hand, prepared to play with her all right, maybe take an eye out or two in the process. He rushed forward, swiping his claws at her, but she was very nimbly, evading him easily. She gave him another toothy smile, as if she really was playing with a child, and that irritated him to no end.

With a flick of her wrist, she turned the soft, flimsy feathers of the duster in to stiff, razor sharp blades and swung it at him, barely missing his neck, but it sliced off a few strands of his hair. How many more déjà vu moments were they going to have, because he didn't need another bad haircut like last time, and with the last few seconds, he was able to create some distance from the very energetic blonde.

But said blonde didn't let up on her playmate, her speed could very well surpass his at the quickness of catching up to him. She was about to give him another blow of her sharp feather duster when a shower of more feathers rained down on her. Heimdall was already retreating, able to avoid the mess, that also forced Fullia to spin away, just as Freya, with her cloak of feathers, had also descended from above and in time too.

Heimdall, grateful for the assistance, tried not to reveal much of it for fear of ruining his reputation.

* * *

Even visually-impaired Gina was in on the action, blasting two guns with hydrochloric acid at the ever moving Yamino and Fenrir, though the former could bring up his barrier to protect himself from the dangerous liquid, fizzling against the shield. He couldn't get in close enough for an attack, from unpredictable aims, being forced to remain at a distance. Though his brother was the one with the advantage, his small size and his agility were crucial to their team assault.

Fenrir dodged every blast easily, weaving side to side to distract and confuse her, while half her attention was trying to pinpoint Yamino. He moved in right under her nose and bit her ankle, causing her to yelp in pain. She cursed him and shook him off her foot, tossing him through the air, but Yamino caught him.

A very annoyed Gina brushed a hand through her bangs and clipped it back with a small barrette that appeared to be in the shape of Frigg.

Yamino and Fenrir looked at each other then gulped, now that their opponent could see them clearly, and her hit rate obviously went from ten percent to like a hundred and fifty percent!

* * *

And so that left um, Loki and Freyr to deal with Eir, both having lept onto the rafters in the ceiling to face against the solemn woman, who was still near Mayura. Each god stood on either side, without a cohesive plan between either them, but their common goal was to save the pink-haired girl.

Freyr blasted a giant star at Eir, who only had to move five inches to the left to avoid it, allowing the attack to make another hole in the roof. The diversion gave Loki a chance to get close to their target and swing a flaming Laevateinn at her. She deflected the attack with her arm and punched him with her other hand, which he quickly blocked with his palm, but the force sent him flying back in to a vertical beam.

She ignored Freyr and dashed to the blonde god, her hands disappeared in to her arms and out came a pair of sharp blades in place of them. Loki ducked when the blades jabbed for his head, followed by a knee towards his stomach that he barely shielded in time with the staff. His other hand grabbed one of her arms, struggling against her strength, as she pushed the blade towards his face.

With her other hand, she raised it and prepared to slash it across his chest, but Freyr's magical attack forced her to shoot the blade as a deadly projectile at the idiot. He panicked and the blade missed his body but not his cape, pinning him in to one spot to another beam.

Loki shot a point blank fireball at her face, following with a strike from Laevateinn in to her chest, cracking what he thought to be her armor, but it made a deep impression in her body. Six small panels from her abdomen opened, revealing very dangerous missiles about to be fired right at him. He sweatdropped and dropped from the beam, straight down to Mayura, on the way, using a lit Laevateinn to burn the rope and grabbing her, as he fled from the vicinity of the explosion.

* * *

Narugami finally broke Hilin's fire proofed mop in half, but that gave her two weapons now, and he sweatdropped. The explosion above caught their attention, and the god's eyes nearly popped out of his head, seeing Eir, with two rockets emerging from her back. Her right hand reappeared and grabbed her left wrist, detaching it from her arm to reveal a long sword.

"What the hell is she?!" he cried, remembering that Odin had warned him to be careful of Eir, but he didn't think that they would be fighting some overpowered metal humanoid. He had heard rumors of the dwarves of Nidavellir having created the ultimate weapon, but a cute bodyguard-assassin-maid, mecha-android was a bit insane... but not that farfetched from the minds of those lecherous beings.

"Loki! Daidouji!" he shouted, running towards the two who had fallen on the white, feathery mattress below. He stopped and cringed when the end of a mop appeared in his face.

"I'm still your opponent!" Hilin roared and smacked the broken shaft in to his stomach.

* * *

Loki's back fell upon the mattress as he held Mayura in his arms, but they didn't get a single break at all. He sighed and rolled them off it and on to the floor just as Eir came crashing down, the sword impaled in to the luxurious bedding and ripped it to shred. She rose to her feet and charged at Loki and Mayura, but the great wolf that was Fenrir had intercepted the attack, headbutting Eir across the warehouse.

He made a run at the android, very pissed that the metal junk dared to hurt his father. He roared, opening his mouth wide, the saliva dripping from the sharp teeth, as he crashed it in to the wall. He heard a sudden pop as his mouth snatched up Eir's body, and his jaws crushed it with a loud, disturbing noise.

Fenrir swallowed, thinking how metal wasn't very appetizing, and realized what the pop sound from earlier was, staring at Eir's head rolling on the ground at his feet. His left eye twitched, getting the urge to stomp on her, but he burped, a deep rumbling in his poor stomach gave way to a tummy ache, which was actually the mega bomb in Eir's body going off. If Fenrir hadn't swallowed it, the thing could've brought down the whole warehouse and several immortals.

He whimpered, settling on the ground with the uneasiness.

* * *

"Nii-san!"

A worried Yamino called to his brother, but Gina was still a hand full for him... at least until Freyr was able to free himself from above and came screaming to the ground, his idiotic ass flattening a crazy Gina, which saved Yamino from a lot of trouble.

"Thank you, Freyr-san," he bowed and ran over to Fenrir.

* * *

Loki, sitting up, untied Mayura from her binds and took the gag from her mouth. He cupped her face and stared at her, scrutinizing every inch of her, making sure that she was unharmed. A few bruises here and there, but nothing serious, and he was so, very glad, crushing her body to his in a tight embrace as if he let her go, she would disappear from him.

She returned his hug, welcoming the warmth of his body because she was freezing in that dress. He felt her shivering and took off his coat and draped it over her.

"Thank you, Loki-sama," she whispered.

He hugged her again, pressing his lips to her forehead, a mixture of relief and joy that she was safe and in his arms now - no words could really describe how he was feeling at the moment. And he wished time would just leave them then.

Mayura, suddenly feeling shy, pulled back from him, but he wasn't willing to let her out of his arms. It wasn't like he had a choice when she shoved him as hard as she could because Hilin had appeared - after taking Narugami out by sheer luck - slamming her broken mop at where Loki used to be, creating a large dent in the ground. Loki extended Laevateinn out and slammed it in to the red-head, sending her flying back.

He sighed when Hilin got to her feet, "Don't you ever give up?"

"Never!" she cried and charged at him again.

Loki evaded and tripped her, sending her face first in to the ground, but he had to applaud her for her persistence. Before she could get up again, he pressed the end of Laevateinn to the back of her head, "I suggest you surrender. Your team has lost."

In the background, Freya and Heimdall were sitting on Fullia's back, twisting one of her arms and one of her legs, respectively, in to submission, while her free arm was flailing, "Oji-san! Oji-san!" *****

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" came the voice behind Loki. He turned around and saw a very apologetic Hel-chan bowing to them, "We arrived late!"

He arched his brows curiously, surprised yet happy to see his daughter, and after seeing the other person behind her, he frowned, "Baldur."

"Baldur-sama!" cried the Frigg Brigade, who all escaped their captors and clung to the god's legs like he was their savior.

'Oi, don't forget this..." Fenrir growled, "thing!" He kicked his foot at Eir's head, letting it roll to Baldur and Frigg's maids.

Eir blinked, "Baldur-sama, welcome back."

"Ah," he replied coolly and bent down to pick up Eir's head, "Let's go home then."

"..."

Loki and his friends glared silently at the young god and his posse - well, Frigg's posse - as he brushed a hand through his gorgeous hair, feeling right at home being adored by the surrounding women like he had just rescued them. He smirked, his blue eyes rose steadily to meet Loki's piercing green ones, still furious from all that had happened between them, and the brewing storm beneath the surface promised of their unsettling rivalry continuing.

In seconds, Baldur and his group disappeared within a gust of wind, returning, hopefully, to Asgard and staying there for quite a while, because all that had happened with Baldur would last them a few centuries. Even so, this wasn't quite the ending they expected, but at least the casualties were at a minimum - couldn't say that about the warehouse.

"I'm... so glad," they all turned around to see a tearful Mayura gazing at them happily, still in her white gown, clutching the fabric of the skirt in one hand, "everyone is all right!" She wiped her moist eyes with her other hand, just so relieved that her friends didn't get injured because of her. She wouldn't know what to do if one of them ever did, especially Loki, and that brought more tears.

Mayura wailed and ran forward, arms outstretched... in slow motion, for the beautiful, dramatic reunion between a girl and an immortal.

Loki, a soft expression upon his handsome face, opened his arms out to her, welcoming her with a sweet smile and promising of a warm embrace, if only the slow motion wasn't so slow because he was getting impatient with getting her in to his arms and much cuddling and groping to ensue.

"Mayura..."

He whispered her name so lovingly, and she was just a few inches away... when she suddenly flew right pass him. He blinked, confused and empty handed, lacking a certain pink-haired mortal. A gust of wind blew by, and he turned around and fell over at the sight of Mayura hugging a stunned Hel-chan.

"Waah! Hel-chan, I'm so happy to see you again!"

Narugami, rubbing his stomach from being hit so hard by Hilin, elbowed a sulky Loki in the side, chuckling, "Eheh, I guess Hel won this one, huh."

"Shut it, Thor."

* * *

Later that night, like three in the morning of the next day - so it was a good thing it all happened conveniently on a Saturday - Mayura was able to stay over at the agency because Yamino had called the previous day to the Daidouji home with an excuse for the girl's absence. Only Yamino could earn the trust of the Shinto priest when it concerned his daughter, because who else was that responsible, and technically Loki was still a kid to the man and Narugami was... just Narugami.

So, while Mayura was taking a long, hot bath, which she so deserved, Loki and his children were in the study, attempting to relax after another semi-serious conflict. Okay, serious because Fenrir was too exhausted to even eat! Yamino sweatdropped at the sight of his brother laying on his back on the couch, next to their sister. He handed a cup of tea to Loki, who occupied the other couch, and then another one to Hel-chan.

"It's good to see you again, Hel," Yamino smiled and sat down beside her.

She blushed, nodding, and looked down at her tea, taking a sip.

Loki leaned back against the couch, resting his cheek against the back of his hand, his left leg crossed over his right knee, and as late as it was, he still enjoyed the company of his children with him, though he was a bit worried about Hel. After the resolution with the Yggdrasil System, she had returned to the Underworld as a part of her punishment for her mischievous plotting, which he was very proud of. He didn't think Odin was that forgiving, but he guessed his blood brother could be surprising at times.

He looked at her, "Hel, is it all right that you're here?"

She brought the cup down to her lap and smiled, "Yes, _chichi-ue_. I have someone covering for me in the Underworld." ******

* * *

Cut to the Underworld, in Hel-chan's office, where the poor substitute was at the goddess' desk, pouring over files and papers. And just who was the helpless victim that got roped in to wearing the blouse and skirt, with pink wig and glasses?

"Hel-sama!" the two servants cried, carrying in more paperwork for the fake goddess, "We just received a hundred more souls!"

With a paw slapped to his forehead, Garmr wished his mistress a swift return.

* * *

Mayura had been soaking in the tub for at least ten minutes now, but she didn't want to get out just yet. She lowered herself a bit farther in to the water, leaving her nose above the surface, wondering why she was suddenly feeling apprehensive ever since Loki rescued her. She had been so happy to see her friends alive and well, and Loki... he looked so handsome, standing there, smiling at her, waiting for her to come to him, but...

She got scared and ran straight to Hel-chan instead.

She closed her eyes and dunked her whole head in to the water, stewing there for a few seconds before coming back up for air. She breathed again, short gasps for air, as she pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the quickened beat of her heart. She could hear the pounding echoing in her head, every time she thought of Loki.

Of course, he was important to her, but Eir's words kept repeating in the back of her mind: _'Is he only a god in your heart?'_

When she thought about those words, her heart also ached.

* * *

***** _Oji-san_ is "uncle" - she's screaming "uncle, uncle" in defeat, lol.

****** _Chichi-ue_ is the archaic, formal form for "father" - I decided to have her use that since she uses ani-ue with her brothers. It's season two, so I'll mix it up, lol.

* * *

**Notes:** Rawr! Eir is a robot - a mecha bodyguard assassin! Lol, I used to watch so many anime... Let's be glad she's not Gundam size... *sweatdrops* And as for Baldur, I bet you're wondering why Hel-chan kept him in Helheim, huh?! Did she experiment on him?! HMMM?! Heheheh...

Oh yah, I feel sorry for Garmr, lol, but at least Hel-chan can spend time with Mayura and her family now! The things he does for his mistress, lol. *hearts Garmr*

And now we get to see how Mayura and Loki progress in their relationship! Lalala~! I'm sure you guys are waiting for more MayuLoki scenes! Speaking of which, I feel soooo sad... 'cause there aren't any new stories on the two! I need my MayuLoki stories! *cries* I keep rereading my favorite ones - I love them, but I just want something fresh! I know it has a small fanbase, but please write more, people! *hyperventilates*

Quick note to my reviewers! *glomps* Love you guys! Gin Nanashi, smileysparklea, EchizenRyoma, Ialiceiamagodness, sticy17, kdwml and RachelLiu13... Though Rachel, um your idea is a bit dark for this story, which is a romantic comedy. *sweatdrops* Please keep in touch, let me know what you like or didn't like, or what you'd like to see more of, besides MayuLoki, lol. -kuro.


	36. Chapter 36

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-Six.**

With the weird and crazy weekend behind her, Mayura was sort of refreshed for the new school week, heading over to the agency so early in the morning - an already strange occurrence when the girl was known for running late to school. She stood on the front door step with a smile and knocked. Seconds later, Yamino opened the door and greeted her with a cheerful good morning, "Please come in, Mayura-san."

She nodded happily, "I came to pick up Hel-chan for school! I'm so glad we can do this again!"

She chatted with much enthusiasm, walking with the mansion caretaker towards the dining room. There, the rest of the family were at breakfast and happy to see her arrival. Loki, grinning, welcomed the lovely sight of his favorite mortal to start his morning and gestured to the empty seat next to Hel-chan, "Why don't you join us, Mayura?"

Fenrir was busy with his plate of breakfast, but he managed a greeting somewhere in between his big bites of food. Hel-chan blushed, completely embarrassed at her eldest brother's ill manners - one sometimes wonder how these three could be related, but one look at Loki and it was evident of all the awesome genes they each inherited.

"I'll get another plate," Yamino smiled.

Mayura remained where she was in front of the archway and smiled nervously, blushing and avoiding Loki's eyes. She stopped Yamino from grabbing another plate from the kitchen, "It's okay. I just wanted to walk with Hel-chan to school." She gripped the handle of her bag tightly, ill at ease with the blonde god's stare, which shouldn't normally affect her so much, and averted her gaze upon the goddess, seated to her father's left.

"Ah, sorry, Mayura-san!" Hel-chan quickly finished her orange juice and wiped her mouth clean while the mortal girl sweatdropped, telling her it was okay to take her time. There was no rush since this was probably Mayura's earliest time in the history of her school career, soon to make her teacher proud.

Hel-chan excused herself to finish getting ready and grab her things, and Yamino had already begun to clear the table, taking his plates and his sister's towards the kitchen, which left Mayura defenseless in Loki's presence, nevermind a preoccupied Fenrir still scarfing down his meal.

The god noticed her nervous fidgeting as she stood there, having eyed her ever since her arrival, and the strange silence irked her, so she peeked over to him, eyes met, and she shyly looked away. He made a curious hum sound, and she turned to him again. He was leaning to one side, resting his chin on one hand, while the other motioned a 'come hither' with his finger, and she hesitated briefly before succumbing to his wishes.

She came close to him, but it wasn't close enough for his preference, a sort of friendly distance that he didn't need, and he reached out to her wrist and pulled her towards him. She squeaked in surprise, dropping her school bag, which caused Fenrir to look up for a second then resumed eating, and she suddenly found herself sitting in his lap, her legs draped over one side of the armrest. He held an arm around her back, keeping her settled in place, while his other hand cupped the side of her face and brought it towards his own.

His beautiful green eyes bored in to her crimson ones, searching for something deep within her, and in turn, she couldn't tear her gaze away, finding his emerald pools hypnotic, but she was soon met with a tinge of frustration and a frown upon his lips.

"Mayura," he whispered, his breath millimeters from her skin, teasing her, and her hands pressed against his chest, trembling at the solidity of his form, "you're hiding something from me." His hand moved from cupping her face to resting on her chin, a slight lift upwards, as he dived down to her neck and placed a soft kiss - on the opposite side from the mark he had given her a few days ago.

"Loki-sama!" her voice rose a bit too high, and she felt him smiling against her, obviously enjoying her reactions very much. Her hands balled in to tight fists, grabbing on to his shirt, as she struggled against his teasings. His lips moved up to her jaw and trailed more kisses along her jaw line till he reached the lobe of her ear and nipped it playfully. She shuddered at his warm breath burned against the sensitive spot behind her ear, unintentionally whimpering like a helpless kitten.

"Don't..." he whispered, deeply and seductively, "keep secrets from me... Mayura..."

They heard a gasp from the background, and Mayura looked over to see a red-faced Yamino clearing his fogged up glasses, apologizing profusely for their interruption, while an equally-colored Hel-chan stood in front of him, not appearing that very apologetic because she had secretly witnessed an opportune moment of the two until her brother just had to ruin it. However brief it was, it got her fangirl mode revved up, almost to the point of hyperventilating.

An extremely embarrassed Mayura had jumped out of Loki's embrace, grabbed her fallen school bag, announcing their leave for school, and dashed towards the archway. She took hold of a trembling Hel-chan's wrist and hurried the both of them out the mansion within seconds, leaving a sulky Loki to sigh at the missing warmth from his lap.

Yamino coughed, noting his father's apprehensive posture, "Loki-sama, are you all right?"

"Hmm," he stilled for a moment, glancing out the window, towards the gates, watching the two girls make their way across the sidewalk, "I'm not sure... but Mayura... Ah, nevermind." He waved it off casually, not wanting to trouble his son over the matter of the girl when he worried over so many things as it was, and Yamino didn't want to pursue it if Loki didn't want to discuss it.

Yamino did notice a subtle change in Mayura though, not sure why, but she was reacting more actively to his father's advances, as if acknowledging them and its effects on her for the first time. He sweatdropped, as he watched Loki's far off gaze, sensing trouble in their future.

* * *

No one seemed to be bothered by Hel-chan's sudden return to school, teachers having found an illness as a reasonable excuse, and things fell back to the normalcy, with the exception for the soccer field being ruined from the weekend's festivities. It wasn't quite a huge problem, because the whole performance from the butler cafe had garnered much attention from other schools in the district, making Mayura's high school very popular.

Though the profit the cafe made would be used to repair the damages, which would have left Mayura back to her original debt, but the ever kind and generous Koutaro had paid for the antique vase. Ever grateful, the girl promised she would somehow pay her debts to her classmate, however long it would take her, and Koutaro smiled. It was a smile that held a secret giddiness to it, holding Mayura to her promise, and Hel-chan sweatdropped, knowing that that particular, devious smile very well, because her father sometimes wore them.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Hel-chan returned, so she could keep an eye on things at school, where her father couldn't, and she definitely couldn't allow Koutaro to get close to Mayura.

It was quite hard to do when the three of them were having lunch in the classroom, and Hel-chan sighed, wishing she wasn't so quiet and passive, but she observed Mayura, seeing how she conversed with Koutaro so easily. They were happily chatting away, and Koutaro figured it was a good time as any to approach the subject, "So Mayura, I haven't seen Chibi-Loki in a while. How has he been?"

Mayura froze, the _onigiri_ pressed at her mouth after she had taken a bite of the rice ball, and her eyes flickered over to Hel-chan, who was just as surprised. "Ano..." she started, racking her brain out for some excuse.

"Ah, he was sent off to school, abroad," Hel-chan smiled shyly and picked at her array of food in her _bento_ box with the chopsticks.

"I see," Koutaro nodded and took a sip of his drink, thinking about the next inquiry of the strange agency that had recently popped up in the neighborhood, so he missed the quick exchanges between the girls. He smiled and looked at Mayura, "So Chibi-Loki's mo-"

"No way! Seriously?!"

Koutaro's interrogation of Loki's family background was interrupted their classmates in the corner of the room, discussing loudly about a certain rumor, where one of the girls nodded her head fervently, "It's said that the National Library is... haunted! Every evening after it closes, there are sounds of footsteps that walk the floor... searching for something... or... someone!

"Books have fallen from shelves when no one is even around!"

"Maybe it was the wind?" another girl suggested, semi-logically.

"Indoors?"

"Heavy wind?"

"The lights turned on after being shut off a minute later!"

"Bad wiring?"

"Hello, this is THE National Library. But it gives off a creepy, cold vibe, and some have even heard it moan mysterious words... _'Hel... Help... me'_?!"

"Someone sick and tired of studying?"

Yeah, this totally caught Mayura's interest for being cool and mysterious, and she listened more attentively, ears burning with excitement for more information.

"Is it trying to communicate?!" someone asked.

"Who knows!"

"Has anyone seen it?!"

The girl shrugged, "No idea, just heard about it this weekend. My friend's boyfriend's sister's friend's cousin was returning some books before it closed and got caught up in it.

"She screamed and ran away, so I don't think she ever got any evidence."

Hel-chan sweatdropped, because this sounded just like a typical prank, yet Mayura couldn't overlook such a mystery. This was just what she needed to get her mind off Loki, but wait, this was a case that Loki would investigate, right? So that would mean she would have to report it to him, in a way, but technically there wasn't a client involved that needed the mystery solved.

"Mayura-san, you aren't... thinking what I'm thinking you are thinking... are you?" Hel-chan hoped that grin on Mayura's face wasn't a sign of a secret adventure without Loki, but why did she even bother, because this mortal attracted a pantheon of gods and divine beings and mischievous spirits and who knew what else. Yes, the girl needed Loki more than ever if she were to survive till old age.

"Of course," she announced, "This sounds like a job for us!"

"So, you are planning to speak to chichi-ue about it?" she whispered, because it was just weird to call her father by his name in front of others.

"Hm, Mayura, you're going to investigate?" Koutaro inquired, not liking her hobby as a detective assistant taking her in to dangers, "It just sounds like childish pranks to me."

She held her index finger up to them, stating matter-of-factly, "A detective always investigates every case thoroughly, from all possible angles, to find the truth... because we just can't follow rumors."

Koutaro sweatdropped, "Um, but isn't that what you're doing now?"

The girl frowned and began to rant on how totally wrong he was and this was different because the pursuit of truth was absolute for the benefit of future generations, while Hel-chan smiled, thinking her father still need to put some more effort in to teaching his assistant.

* * *

That afternoon, Loki had left the agency with Fenrir by his side, having received a message from Mayura about a case she had acquired and to meet her and Hel-chan at the National Library after school let out. He mused over the text messages, recalling the last time he had fun with it, and it was a good way to communicate with her if she was hesitant on meeting eye to eye or speak coherently to him.

He had time till the girls would be leaving school and making their way to their destination, and there was no way he was going to take public transportation, still not able to get over the motion sickness that mortal machinery caused him. Plus, Fenrir needed his daily walk in the sun, happily trotting along, puppy eyes roaming about the scenery and a very alert nose sniffling out delicious aromas of the streets.

Loki took the phone out of his pocket, wondering how he should surprise her, and just why did women start swooning as he walked in to view? Didn't they have any thing better to do? Seriously, Fenrir was getting tired of all the stupid things female mortals did just because his father was that sexy and drop dead handsome...

Yeah, they were dropping like flies all right. But they could at least pass out in silence, not sighing like love-struck fools, which they were anyway. He sometimes wished they would just take a walk in their own neighborhood, at least he could get free food from the familiar faces that managed to stay conscious.

He finally opened the phone, brought up her name and typed a quick message, all the while a smile played on his lips: _'Lets play a game.'_

He wasn't sure what her last class of the day was, but he was patient enough to wait for her reply. It only took three minutes for him to receive it: _'No.'_

He chuckled at her firm response, but at least she was now thinking about him, because he could feel the faint jittery of her mood, and if he turned around, he would most likely see the shimmering white thread that connected them. As much as he liked what they had, the greedy part of him wanted more, and at this rate, if he didn't solve what was bothering her, he would probably lose her.

He just opened a chance for her: _'Whats wrong? Afraid?'_

It took her a bit longer again to answer back, so something was weighing heavily on her mind, _'Im not.'_

_'Talk to me.'_

_'About what?'_

_'What r u thinking?'_

_'Loki will get me in trouble.'_

He laughed: _'Ur in trouble w/ me.'_

_'What? What did I do? :-('_

Before he could type a reply, he received her second message: _'Im sorry.'_

His eyes softened, wondering if she was worried about making him upset, like hurting his feelings, and of course, it was like her to apologize without knowing the truth. She always wore emotions on her sleeves, so it wasn't hard to decipher the change in her whenever she was near him, so he was obviously the problem on her mind, as flattering as it was.

He repeated it once again: _'Talk to me.'_

_'Now? About the case?'_

_'Mayura.'_

_'Have to go. C u soon. :-)'_

Loki sighed...

* * *

And Mayura sighed too, a small smile on her lips because she was happy he was worried about her, in his own silly, flirty way, even though she had been avoiding him. She quickly tucked the phone back in to her skirt pocket before her crazy biology teacher caught her, but her mind was still thinking about the blonde god, so much lately that she even dreamt about him last night.

To her, Loki was a god, a friend - a friendly god, sure - and someone very important to her, but why did her heart pound so much whenever she thought about him, or whenever he was near her. The way he flirted with her, teased her, normally didn't affect her, and she would brush it off as a game between them, but when she saw him with Freya - or more correctly, Freya latching on to him - she would get jealous and all sorts of emotions would bubble in her chest.

She didn't understand what was happening to herself, as if focusing on the words in her textbook would give her the answer, which was very silly of her. Even Hel-chan sweatdropped at her friend's apparent turmoil and concentration to the point that smoke was rising from her head, probably having killed a few brain cells.

Mayura reached her limit and dropped her head on her desk, brain fried and smoking, while the teacher panicked over his semi-conscious student, "Daidouji! Did I give you too much information?!"

Hel-chan brought her hands to her mouth, hiding her giggles and sighing too. Her father had such an effect on women, even Mayura was no exception, but in a way, she was also the exception because he had never given any female more than a glance or two. He may be a tease, but he was also a gentleman and didn't cross the line... and yet, he had probably crossed a hundred lines by now with Mayura.

The girl was certainly special, because Hel-chan could see it too, along with the rest of the immortals, for they, too, were attracted to her to some degree - whether they would agree to it was another matter.

After a few mishaps, Hel-chan wondered if her father would continue to pursue the mortal girl. She rested her cheek on the back of her hand, thinking about all the dangers that had befallen them, to get to Loki by using Mayura, which she was sure that he would blame himself for. It was just like him to, but he was also the type to take responsibility for the matter. He would protect Mayura no matter what, from physical harm, but would he accept the responsibility of her heart, when both realize that it was more than just friendship that had blossomed between them?

Feeling a bit anxious about the situation, Hel-chan watched her friend trying to calm their teacher down and insisting that she was fine.

"Mayura-san..."

* * *

After a few switches of trains, Mayura and Hel-chan emerged from the subway station and took a ten-minute walk to reach the main entrance to the National Library. It was a few minutes until six when she checked her phone, but there was no Loki in sight waiting for them. Hel-chan had asked if he was at the other entrance, but she shook her head, "I told him to meet us at the main one."

The girls turned around at the sound of barking and saw Fenrir running to them, with a sweating Loki right behind him. Of course he was late, considering he had walked across town to get there, which created even more admirers and stalkers, because he still refused to take any sort of transportation, even if it meant he would be late to the rendezvous point.

"Mou, Loki-sama!" Mayura pouted, crossing her arms over her chest, forgetting her dilemma with Loki, "We are so taking the train home!"

"But Mayu-chan," he hugged her, resting his head on her shoulder, "it's a nice day for a walk!"

"You want another walk after being late?"

'No, daddy, no!' Fenrir whined, tired of walking so much.

Hel-chan giggled and picked up her brother, who sighed happily at finally being carried, and both watched the scene between their father and his unofficial girlfriend.

With an arm around the girl, Loki poked her cheek, giving her a sly look, "So how did you get this case for us?"

"We-Well," she started nervously, staring up to the skies, "we just... happened to overhear things..."

He arched a brow curiously, "From lover boy?"

She turned to him, totally confused and very forgetful, especially when it was not an important fact for her to remember, wanting to ask who he was talking about, but seeing that his face was so close to hers, her face flushed a deep red, and she suddenly pushed herself away from him. "You're too close!" she cried and hurried to the library entrance.

He stared after her, running a frustrated hand through his golden hair, mumbling, "It never bothered her before..." He sighed, and upon remembering this was Mayura the trouble magnet, he ran after her.

'This is getting old,' Fenrir deadpanned, 'The... tension is killing me.'

"Ani-ue," Hel-chan sweatdropped and walked ahead, eventually regrouping with the pair in the lobby of the second floor. They only had about an hour before the library closed, and from the little information their classmates had offered from their discussion, the rumored happenings came from the third floor.

"Excuse me, Miss," an employee stopped Hel-chan, "We are sorry, but pets are not allowed in here.

"Ah, I'm sorry," she bowed, "Could you let my friends know I'll be outside then."

Mayura and Loki turned back to them, having heard the employee speak to Hel-chan, who smiled and waved them ahead. The young man walked over to the couple and told them about their rules, and after he left, Loki smirked, "It's up to the detective and his assistant then."

"R-Right..."

* * *

After leaving the library, Hel-chan, with Fenrir still in her arms, walked over to the ice cream vendor and bought a vanilla cone to enjoy while they waited. They found a bench nearby, that had a good view of the entrance, so they settled their for the time being. Hel-chan held the ice cream out to her brother, who happily ate it, and after a few bites, he sighed, having caught the worrisome expression on the goddess' face, 'Don't worry, Hel. They'll be fine. Daddy is there if something happens.'

"It's not that."

'Hm, you mean that other thing.'

"I don't think Mayura-san realizes it yet."

'Daddy should just take her and get it over with!'

"Ani-ue!"

Fenrir rolled his eyes, 'You're thinking it too!'

"Yes well- IYA!" She blushed. Her brother snickered at the redness of her face, and after calming down, she sighed, "I really like Mayura-san, ani-ue. And I want them both to be happy."

He stopped eating and looked over to the library, "I know. I... kinda like her too."

Hel-chan smiled at his honest admittance as he continued, "She's clumsy, an idiot... way too gullible... but her smiles and hugs are nice. She even gives me her snacks." Fenrir smiled, "She's got a pure heart. I think... she's good for daddy."

She giggled over their mutual agreement and then gasped, "Ani-ue! It's melting!" She pushed the ice cream towards Fenrir, who hurried to eat the rest, before she wiped her hands cleaned, fussing over her messy brother with ice cream all over his face now.

Seriously, who was the older sibling here?

* * *

Returning to the library, Loki and Mayura had just stepped up to the third floor, after giving a quick scan of the main second floor, counting the people, including employees, and it appeared that the recent rumors had disturbed a few superstitious people because no one was up there. They glanced up to the fourth floor, seeing one or two employees walking about, but no one was even interested in going beyond the second floor of the main building.

Mayura looked around, wondering where to start, as Loki checked the time once more, "We have forty-five minutes till they close."

She turned to face him furrowing her brows, "The ghost doesn't appear till after it closes. How are we going to stay after hours?"

"Simple," he grinned, stepping over to her, "We'll hide."

"Wait!" she hissed, remembering to keep her voice down, making him stop a few feet from her, "How will we leave afterwards then? They have a good security system."

With his left hand on his waist, he reached the other one out to her and flicked her forehead, "Mayura, are you forgetting I'm a god."

She rubbed her forehead and glared at him, "Yes, and a detective... but also part-time thief?"

He smiled and shrugged, "Gods can do anything?"

So with a huff, she turned away, ignoring him, searching for a good place to hide, among the many shelves. There were a few empty reading rooms, but those didn't offer any good hiding spots though. Of course there were the restrooms too, but those would be thoroughly checked for people.

She stomped around the perimeter once more, in case she missed anything, and Loki followed her quietly, hands stuffed in his pockets, a smile lingering on his lips. He watched her amusingly, letting her get frustrated first, because she was so focused on their case that his presence wasn't currently an issue for her. His grin grew wider when she stopped and stared curiously down the aisle between two large bookcases and walked down it, and of course, he followed, knowing that there was only one way out because the wall in the background was hard to miss.

Mayura walked to the very end, where the wall became the third side of her small boxed in area, and she looked up to the high ceilings, where the light source from overhead was in the next aisle, giving a slightly angled ray of brightness that hit the top of the shelf, leaving the far bottom in the shadows. She tapped a finger to her chin, thinking, and then pressed herself close to the bookshelf.

Sure, it might have worked in her head, but in reality, the library was just well illuminated - not even a cockroach could find a place to hide! That was just fine for Loki, who was not worrying over such trivial matters that a god could solve with a snap of his fingers.

"Ne Loki-sama," she called, in the process of turning around...

* * *

**Notes:** Wow, I didn't think I'd even hit 4k words... *sighs* Sorry for skimping out on the update last night, lol... I sorta got busy replaying Fire Emblem: Awakening again. Lunar difficulty mode is a B-! *growls*

Anyways, I had trouble writing this chapter... 'cause of all the relationship stuff going on here! I'm indecisive with Mayura- argh! And Loki, he's just pushing his luck! Lol. But I think it should be okay in next chapter... Though I have to say I had a blast writing that first scene! Bwahaha... -kuro.


	37. Chapter 37

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-Seven.**

Hel-chan was standing outside the library, with Fenrir in her arms again, waiting for her father and Mayura to exit the now closed place, but only unfamiliar faces came out, some sparing her glances, walking by her to head to the warmth of their homes. She stared at the dimly lit building, still with leftover employees to finish their jobs and return home too, and wondered if the two were seriously hiding out for the ghost.

She sweatdropped and deadpanned, "Ani-ue, do you believe in ghosts?"

'Uh,' he glanced up to her face, 'are you really asking me that, Hel? You're the goddess of the Underworld.'

"I know," she sighed, "I guess we should head inside too."

'Hm, should we give them a few more minutes?'

She arched her brows high on her forehead, and his words finally hit her, causing her to blush.

* * *

Mayura had turned around just to bump right in to him, her nose buried in the silkiness of his shirt, a bit of ticklishness from his tie too. She felt his hands pressed against her shoulders, as she lifted her head to meet his eyes, pushing her gently to the wall, and his body meld with hers. His green eyes bored in to hers, his left arm resting on the wall next to her head, as he brought his right hand to her cheek, holding her still, and before she could protest, his lips descended upon her and claimed her.

A sweet and gentle kiss - longer than the innocent one he gave her from the delivery race yet much shorter and less playful than the one from the school festival - that had her yearning for more, and he smiled faintly at her response to him and pulled back to see her half-lidded eyes lost in the moment. The digits of his right hand brushed along her jaw and chin, finally his thumb brushed over her delicious, bottom lip, and he made a hushed tone, his breath intermingling with hers.

She could hear the faintness of footsteps coming their way and snapped out of the trance, blushing and realizing that he had just silenced her with a kiss. She held her breath and watched over his shoulder, every muscle in her body tense at the fear of being caught and probably turned in to the authorities, her father also being involved and notified of her inappropriate acts...

Oh my god! She totally forgot about her father finding out about her after school hobbies, not that she had really been lying to him about her studies. She really did do her homework at Loki's place, and the god was probably more overbearing than her own teachers.

Okay, she could think about that later, but right now, they couldn't be caught!

He seriously couldn't get enough of this mortal girl, watching the various emotions that fluttered across her cute face, and he knew she was worried about getting caught, but he had already handled that. He had casted a cloaking spell over them, and while his eyes were on her, he listened carefully to their surroundings, the sound of footsteps approaching their aisle. As briefly as they came, drifting by their invisible presences, they soon echoed in the other direction.

Her body slackened in relief that the danger - if it could really be called that - had passed by. Now, they just had to wait out for a bit longer, until the building was vacant of all personnel, so that allowed him some more quality time with his favorite mortal.

He rested his chin on the top of her head, the reminder that he still had her within his clutches. Her hands gripped the fabric of his coat tightly, and she tensed up once more and unable to move or make a noise for fear of still being discovered. Neither said a word, not that she could anyway, her mind racking with all sorts of thoughts and feelings, her heart beating like crazy, threatening to jump out of her chest. She immediately shut her eyes, trying to slow her heart rate down, afraid that he could hear it in the awkward silence, but it was completely useless.

Her head subconsciously leaned towards him, resting against his chest, and he pulled her off the wall and to him, securing his arms around her body, cherishing the warmth she offered him. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but she suddenly felt at peace, the way he held her protectively, his hand rubbing the length of her back in comfort, and how she wanted to stay like that forever.

But wasn't that selfish of her?

Having already wished for him to be with her forever, then again, wanting to be by his side forever, and now this wonderful feeling that she had just discovered that went beyond their boundary of just good friends.

As if you emphasize the significance of her epiphany, the lights began to shut off, section by section, leaving them in the darkness with only the opalescent moon through the distant windows as their only source of light. After a few more minutes when the sounds of doors somewhere on the floor closed and locks twisted shut, she finally pushed herself from him, whispering, "Loki-sama is a god..."

"Yes...?"

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer, much less give her the obvious agreement that he was a god. She looked up at him, somehow able to discern his green eyes in the darkness, and shook her head, attempting to smile, "Um, we have to find that ghost!"

She brushed his hands from her and started moving to the side, but he was quick to hold her back, demanding in a low, authoritative voice, "Mayura, I at least deserve some explanation for your strange behaviors towards me. I don't understand what's going on... did I do something wrong..." he turned her around to him, motioning with a hand the space between them, "with us?"

Mayura, had been staring at he ground, lifted her face up to him, lips pursed in a thin line, not wanting to tell him, but they had reached this point. "Because Loki-sama is a god," she huffed out, very discouraged, "I can't have these feelings for you! I can't like you!"

Loki froze, his hand still gripping her arm, and stared, speechless at her confession, gradually processing her declaration in his head. He appeared to have understood and smiled, "Why not? I like you too, Mayura."

Okay, as much as the words were pleasant to her ears, it didn't seem like he fully understand the extent of her feelings, and that was probably why it bothered her so much, because she knew he was a tease and enjoyed embarrassing her with hugs and kisses and a touch here and there. That was just how he was with her - and not once with anyone else - and she knew this was the risk of her one-sided affections.

She pulled her arm away from him, sighing, "Nevermind, Loki-sama..."

So she was no longer being all emotional but why did she suddenly turn sour and cold, brushing off his touch like it burned her. She had just confessed her feelings of adoration of him, and he, in turn, felt the same way, so why did it just feel like she just rejected him instead?

Not only was he even more confused, but she was the only female to ever turn him away.

* * *

Mayura quickened her steps, wanting to hurry and solve the case so she could just go home, away from Loki and her restless emotions, but it was so dark that all the shelves were practically clones of each other. She made a left and listened carefully for any unusual sounds as she tiptoed along the outer aisle, and nothing appeared strange, but it was eerily quiet.

She jumped, clamping both hands over her mouth, when she heard something fall to the ground a few aisles ahead of her. She took a few seconds before hurrying to the noise and found a pile of books on the ground. She walked up to them and knelt down to pick them up, but she suddenly felt that cold chill and stopped. There was a heavy presence behind her, and with the book tightly gripped in her hands, she spun around and aimed it at the supposed assailant, nearly knocking Loki to the ground instead.

The god stumbled back in surprise, "I know you're upset with me, but did I really deserve that?"

"Loki-sama!" she cried, pointing behind him, where an ominous figure stood, the edges of silhouette blurred with the darkness.

He glanced over his shoulder, not even fazed from the fuzzy apparition, if it was even that because out of impulse, Mayura threw the book in her hand at the being, who got smacked right in the face with it and fell back with a deep, painful groan. She blinked and looked at Loki, "Um, so that wasn't a ghost?"

Loki walked over to the fallen person, just as Hel-chan and Fenrir arrived on the scene, worried and out of breath, explaining, "We heard Mayura-san scream! Are you all right, chichi-ue?"

"Ah," the god replied and motioned a hand towards their supposed ghost, "But I don't think Hodur is."

"Hodur?" Hel-chan knelt down next to the unconscious form and immediately recognized him as the infamous blind god of depression and all things sorrowful, or the little, introvert brother of Baldur. "What is he doing on Midgard?" she wondered aloud, having not seen him for quite a while now.

'Great,' Fenrir sighed, 'We lose Baldur and gain Hodur.'

Mayura walked up to them, asking, "Who is this Hodur? A friend, Hel-chan?"

She nodded, but no one was sure what to do with this god, but it was probably best to get out of the library first before they trigger some sort of alarm.

* * *

Minutes later, the group was outside, staring down at the bench that had a sleeping Hodur stretched on it, and discussed what to do with him, since dragging him back to the agency was such a hassle. Mayura was adamant on taking the bus back, which would earn them a lot of questioning looks and a sick Loki in the process, but they couldn't leave Hodur in the streets, on a cold night.

Hel-chan sweatdropped at the bickering between her father and Mayura and felt a certain dread in her stomach at the heated arguments they threw back and forth.

Fenrir rolled his eyes and figured they couldn't stand out there all night, so he hopped on to the bench and smacked the unconscious god's head, giving him another headache, but hell, it worked!

Hodur returned to the living, since he wasn't quite dead (yet?), and having sensed Hel-chan nearby, he threw himself in that direction, intending to glomp her, but caught a surprised Mayura instead, since she was standing right next to the goddess. He tackled her to the ground, and a very angry Loki loomed over him and pulled him off his mortal, growling out, "Hodur, you better have a good explanation for this."

It was terrible to be blind, and even worse to be Hodur.

"Ah! L-Loki-sama!" he trembled, being dropped on the ground again, "I'm so sorry!"

Hel-chan squatted down next to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Hodur-sama, why are you on Midgard?"

"Hel-sama!" he cried, "I went to Helheim, and you weren't there! Garmr told me you came here, so I've been looking all over for you! It's been so depressing ever since Baldur-nii-sama returned." So... haunting the library was his way of searching for Hel-chan? Sure, she loved books, but she didn't live in a library!

He hung his head so low and his voice was so racked with agony, that he even brought the whole atmosphere down, "They've been throwing parties to celebrate his return! Everyone comes to see him, talk to him! And I'm, once again, forgotten! Oh! I feel soooo saaaaaaaad!

"Hel-sama! You're my only friend!" he wailed, so loudly that it sent Fenrir, Mayura and Loki away towards the bus stop, and that left Hel-chan to take care of her emotionally distraught and forgotten friend.

She sighed and patted his back, having been used to all his crying and many periods of depression. The poor guy just had low self-esteem issues, and who wouldn't when one lived in the shadows of the ever great and popular mama's boy and papa's favorite that was Baldur - that family sure had a lot of... problems.

"Hodur-sama, why don't you calm down and... treat this trip to Midgard as a vacation."

Hel-chan smiled and helped him to stand up, guiding him towards the others at the bus stop, now that he was just down to sniffling. She was surprised that her father was willing to ride the public transportation despite his weakness. It was getting late, so Loki didn't want to take another two hours to get home by feet. He apparently was avoiding Mayura and her smugness at winning their fight over the method to get home, and Hel-chan had a bad feeling about this...

* * *

After observing Mayura and Loki over the next few days, Hel-chan had declared an emergency meeting in Hodur's temporary room at the agency, where said guest was moping by the window while the goddess and her brothers were seated on the floor. She was very worried about their relationship, having once been so close, now distant like a divorced couple, but she didn't know where to start or how to mend this suddenly disconnected bond.

"It must've happened that day at the library," she started. "Chichi-ue and Mayura-san have become distant from each other, but she won't talk to me about it. She's been making excuses not to stop by."

'Daddy's been moping in his office too,' Fenrir groaned, covering his head with his paws, 'He's refused all of the cases at our doorstep! We're gonna be broke soon!'

"Nii-san, you're being overly dramatic," Yamino sweatdropped, even all his mail ordering hadn't even made a dent in Loki's coffer, that was not mentioning his secret stash - how did everyone think the god could afford such a huge, lavish mansion and estate!

Their sister shook her head, "This isn't good. If this continues, there's a chance the wish could nullify itself."

"What?!"

Hodur sighed, heartbrokenly, "If the wills of the people involved are strong enough, it can diminish the bond between them, eventually erasing it from existence, and can never be reversed." He further explained, "It won't be like rebooting the Yggdrasil System either, where a wish could be regranted to the mortal. This would be permanent."

"Oh no," Yamino gasped, "They'll be miserable!"

Fenrir slammed his paws to the ground, 'We have to do something! We need to be a happy family again!'

"Yes, ani-ue! We need a plan!"

Hodur sighed again...

* * *

'Daddy, daddy!' Fenrir shouted, a few days later, running in to the gloomy study, 'I wanna go for a walk!' He stood by his father's desk, happily wagging his tail, staring at the god in his chair with a book in his hands, but he doubted the blonde god was actually reading anything. He stood there for another five minutes, deadpanned expression, at his father for staring at the same page, same spot.

'Daddy!' he barked again.

Loki finally looked over to his eldest child, "Fenrir? What is it?"

'It's a nice day for a walk,' the puppy put on his best, cutest eyes ever, and it worked, because fifteen minutes later, he was trotting along the sidewalk, sweatdropping and leading his sullen father to the planned location. Seriously, this plan better work because seeing his father this unhappy bothered him immensely and no one in the Nine Worlds deserved happiness as much as his father did.

He wasn't sure what happened between the god and his mortal, but he knew that only the pink-haired girl could make his father feel all sorts of emotions, and he couldn't let them idiotically throw away what a precious thing they had together.

Ugh, he was glad no one could read his thoughts right now, to hear how sappy and sentimental he was. He was disgusted with himself, but he would do that and drown his revulsion and hopefully happiness with food, after he hooked his father and his girlfriend back up.

* * *

"Hel-chan, I'm kind of tired today," Mayura sighed, being pulled down the street by a smiling goddess, unwilling to give up on the girl.

"It's just a quick stop," she spoke softly, trying not to feel hurt, "We haven't been able to spend some time outside of school lately."

Surprise fluttered across the girl's face, and she turned to her friend apologetically, "I'm so sorry, Hel-chan! I didn't realize... Ah, I've been a terrible friend!" She shook her head, upset with herself for being so absorbed in her own problems that she forgot those around her. "Let's go try that new cake!" she shouted and linked their hands together, running down the walkway.

* * *

Yamino was pacing back and forth outside the cafe, searching in both directions for any signs of either parties involved, but then he shouldn't be out in the open in the first place since this was a secret plan devised by Loki's three children. He sweatdropped, wondering what sort of punishment they would receive if their father found out about it, but... this was for his sake! Loki's future happiness rested on this encounter.

"Oi Megane!" Narugami poked his head out of the door of the cafe, "You're gonna wear out the welcome mat!"

"Ah Narugami-kun, sorry!" he bowed.

"Don't worry so much. I got things ready here. You said a couple's table in the back for Loki and Daidouji. The best cake and tea and no disturbance!"

So, they got Narugami in on the plan too - what were the odds of his part-time job being at this nice cafe? (Damn, plot convenience.)

"Huh, what's Hodur doing here?" Narugami squinted his eyes across the street at the blind god bumping in to everyone and everything and then apologizing to a mailbox and a lamp post for being a klutz.

Yamino refrained from slapping his forehead, having forgotten the handicapped god was left home alone, and jogged over to Hodur to at least hide him from Loki's and Mayura's eyes and suspicions. It was a good thing there was a bookstore right there, so Yamino dragged the sighing and submissive god in to the shop. He grabbed the nearest magazine about modern homes, even grabbing some random papers for Hodur despite not being able to read it, but they had to pretend that they were reading while keeping an eye across the road.

He finally saw Hel-chan and Mayura, coming from the west, making their way towards the cafe and sighed with relief that things were going smoothly... that was before he saw who was coming from the other direction.

Yamino totally slapped his forehead, because they had forgotten to factor in...

* * *

"Yamato Nadeshiko~!" Freyr sang, after skipping happily down the sidewalk, from the east, for no reason at all besides thinking about his pink-haired perfection.

Mayura smiled nervously, "Ah hello, Freyr-sama."

"It must be destiny! For us to meet like this!"

Hel-chan glared and frowned, not that the brunette even bothered to acknowledge her, but she couldn't let this idiot god interrupt their plans, "Excuse us, Freyr-san, but we must be going."

"Oh! Is Yamato Nadeshiko eating here?!" he asked excitedly, and Mayura dumbly nodded, a very bad move, but she wasn't thinking anything of it, "That's great! Freyr wants to eat here too! Let us dine together, Yamato Nadeshiko!"

"Ah... okay...?" Mayura replied with a shrug, really having no problems of another friend joining them.

"NO!" Hel-chan cried then blushed when the two stared at her outburst, "I mean- no way, we better hurry and grab a good table!"

"Right right!" Freyr opened the door like a gentlman and allowed the ladies in first, and Hel-chan had no choice but to enter, every single part of their plan would be thrown out the window now. They bumped in to Narugami, who gave Hel-chan a look of confusion because he saw Mayura with Freyr and not Loki. She just shook her head with a defeated sigh as Freyr bounded over to a booth by the window.

* * *

"Ah, Jormungand-sama!" Hodur stiffened, "You seem ill..."

"Just a bit... under the weather."

Anyone would be more than sick at seeing one's father's unofficial girlfriend being seated at a table with an idiot god not worthy of being called a rival.

The god nodded, fanning himself, "It's very hot here in Midgard. I don't know how these mortals deal with it..." He sighed, "I like Niflheim much better... but if Hel-sama thinks I need a vacation, then I'll take it... And besides, she is here too. I'm so lucky to have a best friend like her..."

Yamino didn't mean to be rude, but he had to tune him out to fix this little mishap in their plan. He had to do was call Hel-chan and tell her to lure Freyr away with some excuse, which would get her and the idiot out of the way, and they would have to execute it immediately though. Luckily he had borrowed Loki's phone - that originally was his anyway, but Loki kept it to bug his mortal - without his knowledge, but it wasn't like the blonde god would realize it was missing during his listless days.

Before he could even press a single button on the phone, he was stopped by the sight of Loki and Fenrir coming down the sidewalk, from the east, and in the other direction was... Freya!

Oh gods, how the hell did this happen?!

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, okay I lied... so things aren't going so well between Mayura & Loki, but next chapter will be better? Yes yes! And welcome, Hodur... to hot Midgard! It's the place to be these days! All the cool gods are here! Lol...

Bah, this chapter didn't hit my 4k word goal, but this was a good stopping point. I keep adding and adding to these chapters, pushing the story farther in to more chapters, lol. Anyway, enjoy! My day to write more and more! Spica is coming up soon! *grins* -kuro.


	38. Chapter 38

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-Eight.**

'Daddy, look at this cafe!' Fenrir chirped, wagging his tail, staring at the cafe entrance, 'This place looks yummy!'

"Ah..."

Fenrir had stopped near the door, but Loki, still in a sort of daze, kept walking ahead, passing by the length of tall windows, when he felt the urge to stop. He was confused at the certain impulse and the sudden cease of movements from his legs - even for a god, he could be pretty dense - until he heard his name, "LOKI~!"

The voice was familiar but not the one he had hoped for, waiting for, nor thinking about all this time since their last encounter that had disrupted the harmony between them. When he and his son turned to the owner of the voice, Loki shouldn't be surprised to see Freya, but Fenrir the great wolf of Asgard was horrified, watching the blonde goddess throw herself at his father - did that woman have no shame?!

This just had to happen right in front of the cafe's stretch of large windows, where a certain trio sat. Freyr had his hands clasped over a strangely pensive Mayura, who was too preoccupied with her thoughts to take notice of him, and then there was Hel-chan's heavy hyperventilating-like breathing as the goddess, clenching and unclenching her hands with thoughts of sending the god straight to Helheim, glared at the idiot's bold move upon her friend.

As if they had felt the weird vibe of the atmosphere, eyes from outside turned inward while eyes from inside turned outward, and all Nine Worlds could feel the great disturbance from a freaked out Freyr. He was the first to react, jumping out of his seat, tearing his touch from his beloved Yamato Nadeshiko, and slamming his fists against the window like a madman, alarming the nearby customers, "GET YOUR HANDS OFF FREYR'S SISTER!"

"Nii-sama, you're embarrassing me!" his sister reprimanded him from the other side of the glass, and technically, it should be Freya getting her hands off Loki, but who was really being petty about it? And who was embarrassing who?!

And if anyone bothered to carefully look behind Freya, to the background, across the street to the bookstore, one could see a giant sweatdrop hanging over Yamino's head while Hodur was moping next to him, holding a book upside down.

Hel-chan and Mayura sweatdropped at their companion's unstable reaction, wishing they did not know this god, but the girls had a mixed reaction at the sight of Freya all over a twitchy Loki, whose eyes remained glued to one certain person inside the cafe.

Loki, masking his frustration, stared at her, then his eyes flatly turned to a loud, still screaming Freyr pointing an accusing finger at the god. He figured the idiot wasn't worth another glance so he turned back to his mortal, a bit longer this time in staring at her, as if trying to find the truth in her crimson orbs, that this wasn't a betrayal.

He was definitely not amused, at all. His eyes questioned what she was doing with Freyr, and she seemed miffed, returning the same questionable look at him for being with the goddess, jealous evident in those beautiful orbs because she had accepted her existing feelings for the god, even if he didn't understand what his own were.

But he was certain about one thing, and that was the uncomfortable, terrible feeling in his chest from seeing Mayura with some other male besides him or his sons, and maybe Narugami. All this time, when she had willingly stayed by his side, he had taken her for granted, always expecting her to follow him or catch up to his side wherever he went. So to see her with another man - not yet mentioning Koutaro at this point, because the gods were already a hand full - much less think about it, he was livid.

As skilled as he was in concealing his emotions from others, Mayura couldn't deny the tinge of hurt that she could see right through him, and it pained her just as much, knowing that it was her fault too.

Before Loki could smoothly pry Freya's hands from his neck, Mayura had turned away and spoke to a surprised Hel-chan quickly, and he watched the girls shift out of the booth. The mortal hurried out of his sight, and he knew she was running away. He couldn't let her avoid this confrontation anymore, and after yanking Freya from his person, he ran to the entrance just as Fenrir jumped out of the way and Mayura shot out the door.

His right hand swiped for her but missed her by a few centimeters, the ends of her pink tresses brushed against his skin as if mocking him. He called out to her, but she didn't stop, and he didn't hesitate to run after her, speeding by a stunned Fenrir.

"Loki!" Freya cried and dashed after him, only to run right in to her own brother exiting the cafe, creating a messy pile of confused immortal siblings. A sweatdropping Hel-chan appeared in the doorway, because the idiots were blocking the way, and sighed, walking around the two fighting and arguing, quickly meeting up with Fenrir off to the side.

The two sweatdropped, seeing Yamino sprinting from across the street, lugging a clueless Hodur along. When they regrouped, Hel-chan, worried, asked, "What should we do now?"

It was Fenrir with the answer, 'Leave them be. We got them to this point. It's up to daddy to do the rest.'

"That's what I'm worried about, nii-san," Yamino sighed, knowing how dense their father could be when it came to the feelings from the opposite sex, but it amazed him sometimes how insightful his brother could be, as much of a meanie head he could be sometimes.

"Ah, you underestimate Loki-sama's feelings for that girl," Hodur sighed, shoulders drooped forward.

"Hodur-sama," the goddess looked at her friend, who appeared to be more aware of the situation and all the tension underneath it, due to his lack of sight and reliance on the rest of his senses and that godly sixth one, but wouldn't that put him back to having five senses? Ugh, nevermind the weird tangent Hel-chan got herself in to, just re-focus on the problem at hand, which wasn't much they could do anyway.

'I'm getting hungry,' Fenrir barked.

"Me too!" Hodur's face suddenly brightened to realization, a great contrast to his many previous gloomy moments, but food made the world go round? "The food on Midgard is delicious!"

Yamino sweatdropped, "Then let's wait for them at home. I'll make dinner for all of us."

With that agreement, they all decided to head back to the agency, with Fenrir settling in Hel-chan's arms after all that walking and leading his father around, and a poor Yamino was in charge of guiding a daydreaming Hodur, trying not to let the god bump in to objects and persons. So that left Freyr and Freya coming out of their bickering to realize that their respective love interests and acquaintances had disappeared, and they panicked, both running down the streets, in the obviously wrong direction, calling out hopelessly for their loved ones.

* * *

Mayura was running as fast as her legs could carry her, weaving through the crowds, making various turns down familiar streets to hopefully lose her pursuer. She just couldn't get the image of Loki and Freya out of her head and didn't want to have to deal with him at the moment, when her feelings were all over the place. She had been avoiding him all week, hoping to sort out her thoughts before speaking to him again, knowing that her avoidance of him probably hurt him, so she could understand if he was upset at her about that.

She ducked down a neighborhood street, slipping through a few more side shortcuts until she made it to a more empty area, slowing down a bit to catch her breath. She was near the park, at the another entrance, and hurried towards it, just needing a place to hide out for a bit till things cooled down or Loki gave up chasing after her. She pushed through some bushes and in to the small grove of trees, an old childhood spot that she ran to when he neighborhood children had shunned her from games.

She dropped down at the base of a tree, knees pulled up to her chest, not caring if her skirt didn't properly covered her, and her arms wrapped around her legs, resting her forehead on her knees, ragged breaths heaving in and out of her. She had never thought she would get so worked over her feelings like this, like someone was just tormenting her by throwing her in to some _shoujo manga_.

Her breathing settled down, but her heart was still racing, pounding against her chest, and she sighed, the guilt found its way to her conscience, recalling the hurt expression he wore. She wanted to apologize, but the things between them couldn't ever return to normal, not with the affections she held for him, and to be honest with herself, she just didn't know how to face him either.

She heard the rustling of leaves and breakage of twigs and snapped her head up, to see him standing before her, out of breath like she had been earlier, his shimmering hair disheveled just as his clothes were. Before she could even react to his presence, shooting up to her feet, Loki closed the distance between them within a few quick strides, taking hold of her shoulders, and pressed her back against the trunk of the tree. She lowered her head, hiding her expressive eyes beneath her bangs from him, but he moved in closer to her, his breathing having calmed down now that she was within his touch.

"Don't," he started, inching in to her personal space until she was flushed against his body, and rested his chin on top of her head, "Don't avoid me. Please."

Being this close to him, hearing his pained voice, she lost herself to his overwhelming presence, every inch of him permeated her senses. She couldn't deny how happy she was, in pure bliss, and her arms found their way around his body, wrapping around his warmth, and refused to let go, her gentle hands clutching at the fabric of his coat possessively.

Feeling her response to him, Loki squeezed her tighter, thrilled that she wasn't going to run away from him, and just happy that she was back with him. He could feel their bond strengthening once more, having struggled just to chase the fading white thread that led him to her, in this secret hideaway from the crazy world around them.

"I'm sorry, Loki-sama," she whispered for the pain she caused them, and upon hearing her voice, his heart skipped a beat, and he pulled back just a tad to look down at her. She was still refusing to meet his eyes, so he tucked a hand under her chin and lifted her face up to his. Her eyes still stubbornly avoided him, but he could see the redness of them and the moistness at the edge, threatening to spill, in fear of his anger and hatred.

He leaned down to kiss her forehead, to reassure her that he felt anything but happiness, the warmth and gentleness of his touch should let her know, and if not, the next feathery kiss above her right eye would prove to her further of the feelings in his heart. He followed the second kiss with a few brief ones, kissing away the tears that tainted her skin, and licked away those that had already slid down her pale cheeks.

Mayura felt his tongue brushing across her skin and gasped at his intimacy and the tender feeling, her warm breath sent a wave of electrifying sensation through his own body, shuddering from such a small, innocent reaction from her. He was amazed at how a simple thing could get him to feel so alive, not just from anyone, only she could entice such feelings.

He finished drying the rest of her tears with his kisses and pulled back just a bit to see her face. She was now shyly gazing up to him, the pink of her cheeks was adorable, and he wanted to kiss her some more, but there were important matters they had to discuss. He cupped her face in both of his hands, keeping her eyes staring straight in to his, and spoke in such a soft, loving tone, "Mayura, I'm... terrible with words, but you're very important to me."

Her crimson eyes widened, searching within his own for affirmation that she wasn't imagining these words, and he smiled, a sweet chuckle coming from his throat, but he was very sincere, "If I didn't like Mayura, I wouldn't have returned."

Mayura continued to stare at him, wide-eyed, appalled that he was very awful with expressing himself verbally, if this was his way of telling her that he did return her feelings, so it wasn't exactly one-sided on her part, but this clumsiness of his was part of his charm for her. Seeing him struggle to find the words to articulate himself was very amusing, and she suddenly found herself laughing at the absurdity of it all, placing her hands affectionately over his own.

She leaned in to a confused Loki, resting her forehead comfortably against his shoulder, as he blinked at her strange behavior. He still didn't know why she was laughing, but as long as she was in a good mood again, he was happy too, having her relaxed within his hold. When she finally calmed down to soft giggles, she straightened herself in front of him and gave him her patented bright smile, "Sorry, Loki-sama, I didn't mean to laugh like that, but I was just happy.

"I like Loki-sama very much," she confessed wholeheartedly, "So please, let me stay by your side."

He smiled beautifully, the warmth of their feelings radiated mutually between them, and he let out a small laugh, brushing his thumb over her cheek, "That is your wish after all."

* * *

Back at the agency, Yamino had already started on dinner with his nagging brother being unwanted company, complaining every two minutes how famished he was, so to silence the noisy puppy, he rolled his eyes and threw a freshly baked roll to the floor to hopefully appease the great wolf. He returned to his cooking, but the peaceful quietness was disrupted seconds later since it only took a few seconds to snatch the delicious roll in to his mouth and pretty much swallowing it whole.

With his incessant barking, the chef had no choice but to kick his brother out of the kitchen and locked it down till everything was complete. A miserable Fenrir stalked out down the hallway and in to the living room, where Hel-chan and Hodur were, with the former pacing back and forth worriedly - just like her worry wart brother, Yamino - in front of the window, eyeing the gates every few minutes too.

Ignoring the spaced out Hodur, or maybe he had fallen asleep while standing up before the landscape painting on the wall, he walked over to Hel-chan and hopped on the chair to look out the window too.

'No use in worrying,' he sighed, paws perched on the window sill, 'If daddy can't change things, I guess we can all go home then.'

The goddess stopped and stared at her eldest brother in shock, "Ani-ue! How can you say that! Even if chichi-ue returns to Asgard, he won't be happy."

'I know that!' he snapped angrily, and she flinched at his tone and Hodur shook out of his slumber, looking about like he was lost. Fenrir glanced at her and felt terrible, 'Sorry, Hel... But we can only do so much for daddy's happiness.' He gazed up to the darkening skies, noticing the clouds were slowly gathering overhead, and wondered why it held such an ominous feeling. He prayed his father would soon return, with his unofficial girlfriend, before it started to pour.

"Ah! They're back!" he heard Hel-chan cried happily. She ran out of the room as his gaze fell down to the earth again, seeing the blonde god walk down the sidewalk, hand in hand with the mortal girl next to him, both smiling and chatting with one another like nothing had ever changed. His tail, unknowingly, wagged with pure joy, but he could tell something different had definitely changed between the two.

The raindrops began to litter the earth, painting the walkway with droplets of darkness, as he watched, from the safety and comfort of the house, his sister run eagerly out to the couple with an umbrella. She hugged Mayura, welcoming them both home, and sheltered them from the weather, as they all hurried in to the house. He couldn't help but smile at the heartwarming scene and hopped down to the floor and made his way out to the entrance to greet his family.

* * *

A few days later, Fenrir had forgotten about that strange, foreboding feeling he had felt that day his father made up with his girlfriend - though it was still unofficial, he knew otherwise because the closeness between them was beyond that of just best friends. He had become a great observer of details as of late, if only to make sure things were going smoothly, but he was still relentless with his siblings.

'I want seconds!' he would howl at Yamino, 'More hot sauce too!'

Or he would reprimand Hel-chan, 'Hel, are you peeping on them again? That's a terrible hobby!' She would blush and apologize, but he would then tell her to hush so he could hear what's going on in the next room, to which she would sweatdrop and mumble that they had a lot in common than just genes.

Even poor Hodur was not spared from the great wolf's nagging, 'Hodur, you fool, that's the pantry! Don't pee in there!'

Though he only calmed down once Loki and Mayura entered his view, turning in to a docile puppy, letting the pink-haired girl scratch his head, at the spot where he loved it the most. He settled comfortably in her lap as she did this and snickered at the slightly annoyed expression his father wore, seated next to them on the couch, because the god was obviously jealous of the attention his son received.

"Ne Loki-kun," Mayura started, and Fenrir's ear twitched at the change in formality from the girl towards his father and smiled to himself. Sometimes the evidence of their relationship was blaring right in front of everyone, and other times, they were subtle hints - like the playful curl of her lips when Loki teased her, or the close proximity when they stood together, arms touching, or when just passing a book to each other, fingers brushing lightly against one another, or the way her eyes shone brightly when their gazes met, and he smiled lovingly in response.

Sure, it was cute, like Hel-chan had put it, but Fenrir could only take so much saccharine display as prescribed for his badass reputation and closed his eyes - though out of sight, out of mind didn't quite work - still clearly listening to the conversation.

"Did you get any mysterious, cool case yet?!" she asked eagerly, leaning towards the handsome detective at her side.

Loki had an arm behind her, resting on the couch, while the other tapped his chin, pondering thoughtfully over her question, letting her stew in the aggravation of having to wait for an answer from him. He grinned when he saw the twitch of her glaring left eye at him, making a very impatient humming sound from her throat, and finally responded with, "Maybe?"

"Mou Loki-kun!" she pouted, "What kind of answer is that? You either have a case, or you don't."

"Well it is a mystery," he chuckled and stood up. He walked over to his desk and opened the top drawer to grab something from it.

Mayura had lost any ounce of annoyance as she tried to make out the object that he was pulling out, and it was a white envelope. He returned to her side again and handed it to her, "I received this earlier today."

She scrutinized it, only the words 'a small thanks' was written on the front and nothing on the back. She looked at him, puzzled, and he just smiled enigmatically and nodded to her, eyes briefly fluttered to the envelope, indicating that she could open it on his behalf. She hummed impatiently again, giving him a suspicious eye, before turning her attention to the envelope, soon tearing the flap open, and peeked inside.

He watched her reaction carefully, from annoyance to out right glee, at the the coupon for a free ice cream sundae in her hand, and laughed, "So, is this mysterious and cool enough for you?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Loki-kun can be such a dork."

"Gods are not dorks!" he huffed out.

"Hmm, you just proved it!" she giggled and waved the paper in front of him, grinning triumphantly, "If Loki-kun wanted a date, all you had to do was ask."

He blinked and remembered the same line he had used on her quite a while ago (from chapter 30), laughing at her slyness. He playfully pinched her cheek, "You've become such a sassy girl."

She gave him a cute, mischievous grin, "I learned from the best."

"Is that so?" he murmured huskily, his hand had ceased teasing her cheek and caressed it lovingly, as he leaned in to her defiant and attractive smirk, that grew just a tad wider in expectant of his move. She inched forward too, closing the small gap between them...

'Okay! I'm outta here!' Fenrir barked suddenly and jumped out of Mayura's lap and raced out of the room, like his tail was on fire or there was yummy food waiting for him downstairs, but he couldn't take it anymore and had get out of there. His little face flushed with embarrassment when he reached the kitchen, surprising Yamino, who was sweeping the floor, and his father was right. He was still a few centuries too young to deal with the opposite gender in such a non-platonic way.

"Nii-san, are you okay?"

Fenrir blinked, having stood in the middle of kitchen for a five minutes, and sweatdropped, 'Eh, I'm hungry.'

"Ani-ue, you're always hungry," came Hel-chan's voice, and the goddess appeared in the doorway, rubbing the drowsiness of her nap from her eyes before putting on her glasses, "But I am too, hehe."

"Ah, I'll prepare something," Yamino smiled and put the broom aside to finish his chore later, "I received a new batch of tea for Loki-sama this morning! I think he will like it!"

'Don't bother,' Fenrir grumbled, 'Daddy and his girlfriend are going out.'

"Really?!" Hel-chan lost her leftover sleepiness and was filled with excitement.

To confirm the puppy's words, Loki and Mayura appeared behind Hel-chan, who turned to them, gushing all red and happy at the sight of her favorite couple in the whole Nine Worlds. She could hardly contain her secretive fangirl mode, after witnessing the closeness the two had become in the past week, but today, they were really going out in public together.

Her father was saying something, but she covered her mouth with both hands, restraining herself from squealing in delight and attempting to maintain her steady breathing. The edges of her glasses began to fog up, but Loki was already pulling his mortal away, so neither of them noticed her strangeness.

"We'll bring back something good!" Mayura called back, her waving hand disappearing from sight.

They heard the front door close, and Hel-chan collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily, holding a hand to her overly ecstatic heart. Her brothers stared at her and then exchanged quizzical glances, wondering if they should even approach her or even ask.

'Maybe she's really hungry?'

Yamino rolled his eyes at Fenrir, and being the more responsible sibling, he inquired, "Hel, are you all right?"

"Y-Yes, Jormungand-ani," she heaved out, her voice quivering with excitement, "I... I have high blood pressure..."

The brothers sweatdropped, and more sweatdrops appeared when Hel-chan sighed dreamily, a lengthy one that sounded like she had fallen in love or something. Of course, who couldn't fall in love with the thought of Loki and Mayura together, sharing ice cream on a bench during a beautiful weekend afternoon and maybe a kiss or two later, and then eventually walking down the aisle and getting hitched, and years from now, more siblings would be born from the union.

Hel-chan couldn't stop her imagination from going wild because she would be a big sister to a bunch of mini-Loki's and mini-Mayura's running around - just how many kids was she thinking about?

Leaving the goddess to her mysterious thoughts and daydreaming, Yamino returned to making them a little snack, so it would satisfy their stomachs but not ruin it for dinner later. He boiled some hot water and then made some sandwiches, being quick and diligent with every move, and even Fenrir couldn't take his eyes away... from the food, really.

Soon, a drooling Fenrir found a plate of delicious ham sandwiches in front of him. Yamino set another plate on the counter and went over to the boiling water to make tea. He glanced over to his dazed sister, still in the same spot on the floor, and sweatdropped. He called to her, "Hel, why don't you eat something."

"Hm?" she blinked and stood up, smoothing out of her clothes as if nothing had happened to her. She walked over to the island and sat on a stool and stared at the plate of food, feeling like she had forgotten something, or maybe someone because Hodur was still snoring away in bed.

"Ah, Hodur-sama!" she exclaimed, "Let me go wake him up."

Her brothers watched her run out of the kitchen, and five minutes later, she returned to them, sighing, without any Hodur in sight. Yamino let her sit back on the stool before bothering to ask if the god was joining them. She shook her head, "He has always been a heavy sleeper.

"_Itadakimasu_!" she smiled and reached for a sandwich slice and took a bite of it, and Yamino joined her with their beverages.

"How do you like it?" he asked.

"Very delicious!" she beamed, enjoying everything her brother made because he always put a lot of effort and love in to their meals, unlike a certain other sibling that would remain nameless but everyone knew who it was.

'Is this what they call vegetarianism? There should be more meat than this!'

"Nii-san..."

"Ani-ue..."

Before his ranting could continue, they hear the sound of the doorbell ringing. They stilled, wondering who could be at the door, because it was a weekend afternoon, so there was no way it could be a potential client, and even if it was, Loki wasn't home. Maybe if they would stop pondering over it and get the door before it rang again, they would actually get an answer, but then, they were so comfortable in their seats, with yummy food, that they didn't want to leave the wonderful atmosphere of a lovely memory.

Thirty seconds later, the doorbell rang again, so they really had no choice. Yamino got up and walked out of the kitchen, with Hel-chan munching on her sandwich following curiously, to the front door. He reached for the knob and turned it, slowly opening the door.

Both Yamino and Hel-chan stared, their glasses slipping down the bridge of their noses, and the sandwich fell out of the goddess' hand, as their jaws dropped, in complete shock to see a young woman with short, purple hair standing at the front steps of the detective agency.

* * *

**Notes:** I'm surprised this chapter ended up really long, because I had no idea what to write after Mayura and Loki made up, lol. It was difficult to write that scene, starting Mayura's feelings and thoughts. I didn't want to get overly dramatic, since it is a romantic comedy, so I hope it turned out okay. Now they're closer than before, but I didn't want them to be official yet since Spica is in the picture. And more chaos and confusion shall ensue, for the pursuit of humor and awkward situations!

The kitchen scene with the three kids, I totally forgot Hodur was staying at the agency too - shame on me, yes. But Hodur-sama isn't a morning person! He's so like a wallflower, so easily forgotten. *sighs* Anyway, maybe a few more days for the next chapter. -kuro.


	39. Chapter 39

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Thirty-Nine.**

Fenrir, after stuffing himself with all of the sandwiches, including the ones that Yamino had set aside for the still snoozing Hodur, strolled out in to the hallway, now interested in finding out who was at their doorstep. He saw his younger siblings frozen like ice cubes in front of the opened door and sweatdropped, shouting, "Oi, who is it?"

He burped crassly and walked in between the two and looked up, his jaw dropped to the ground at the sight of the purple-haired girl, carrying a large bag of steamed, meat dumplings and currently eating fresh one. He sweatdropped, trying not to drool at the sight and smell of the tasty food, but his eyes kept shifting from the bag of food to the visitor's face, debating on which was more important to address first.

Yamino was the first to snap out of the shock, "Angrboda-sama..."

"_Haha-ue_..." Hel-chan nervously greeted. *****

'Uh, mom...?'

Fenrir sounded uncertain, feeling it too surreal to see their biological mother, the great giantess of Jotunheim, in human form on Midgard, stuffing her face with a second dumpling. She stared at them indifferently, continued to eat her dumplings without a single break to her third one, not caring for the bits of food sticking to the sides of her mouth, and her three children sweatdropped. When she reached for her fourth dumpling, their three separate sweatdrops combined in to a large one - that explained Fenrir's huge appetite coming from her!

* * *

How sweet was the sight of lovers, holding hands, walking down the street together, but kids these days had no shame about displaying their affections in public, especially among the older generation who looked down on such things. Luckily, Loki didn't care about such things, and Mayura was too preoccupied with her free ice cream sundae, wondering what flavor she should try this time.

She suddenly felt a chill running down her spine and glanced around, seeing nothing unusual about their environment. She double checked one more time, and once again, it was just normal people going about their day, sparing the pretty couple a few glances of admiration.

Loki noticed her uneasiness, the slight squeeze of her hands and her wandering eyes, "Is something wrong, Mayura?"

"Hmm..."

She stopped him, still looking about because the disturbing feeling was way too strong for her to brush it aside as nothing, and raised her eyes to him, asking, "Do you get the feeling... like we're being followed?" She looked over his shoulder, scanning the area behind him, but he just shrugged as if it didn't bother him at all.

"I'm with you after all," he lifted their entwined hands and kissed the back of hers, reminding her of the promised he made, "I'll protect you no matter what."

Blushing, she blurted out, "What if they're aliens?!"

He blinked, letting her words soak in, and laughed. He dropped their hands again, but with a tug, he pulled her closer and captured her chin between his thumb and index finger, giving her the look that dared to question his abilities, "Mayura, are you saying a god is weaker than an alien?"

"Well, I wouldn't know! I haven't met an alien yet!" she puffed up her cheeks in annoyance, then after a few seconds, her face brightened up again, "But it would be nice to meet one!"

He let go of her chin to lightly bop her head, telling her, "There are no such things as aliens. Spirits, demons, ghost and goblins, yes. But no aliens."

She turned her head away from him, as they resumed their walk to the ice cream parlor, the corner of her mouth twitching in to a nervous smile, grumbling something about how she once didn't believe in gods yet they existed, even if some of them were flirty, clueless playboys. He jerked her hand towards him again, letting her bump against his arm, and grabbing her defiant cheek with his other hand, giving it a playful pinch.

He was wearing one of his sly grins again, daring her to repeat what she had just mumbled, "What was that?"

Mayura laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head, "Um, I-I'm just lucky to have my own personal god!"

"I should punish bad liars."

"No! It's the truth!"

She sweatdropped, knowing that his punishments could only embarrass her further, but she wasn't lying, just wouldn't be sharing her other thoughts with him. Though that confident grin of his was not a good sign for her, and his words just confirmed his intentions, "I have ways of making you talk."

Before she could freak out from his declaration, she spotted something moving from the corner of her eye and dragged Loki away from the moving mailbox that suddenly fell over, revealing a man in a black suit with slicked back hair and dark sunglasses. He slapped his forehead and fell over, his legs trembling, mumbling that his legs had turned to jelly from squatting in that position for a while.

Another similarly dressed man, practically a clone, popped up from a large flower pot to shout at his comrade, "You need more training!"

Within seconds, Loki and Mayura found themselves surrounded by a group of mysterious men in black, who appeared from their hiding spots - so she really wasn't imagining stalkers - and jumped at them. The god pushed his mortal out of the way just as one grabbed his arm, getting a good grip on him, before he sent a fist in to the man's face and kicked another painfully in the nether region.

How a group of well-trained men couldn't even detain one unarmed, handsome being was ridiculous, so they resorted to just dogpiling on him and pray that they could succeed, while two luckier men were assigned to grab the girl, which was a lot easier. Having restrained her by the arms, Mayura wasn't going to give up without a fight, kicking one of the men in the shin. He fell over, bawling like a big baby, as she attempted a swing at the other, but he caught her fist easily.

One would think two people being attacked by apparent bad guys would call the citizens to great concern and seek out professional help, but it didn't seem that anyone was going to do just that, believing that this was just some action-pack ploy for a movie. Obviously the joys of fantasy was much more exciting than the reality of two innocent people getting jumped in broad daylight.

Not that it mattered to Loki, destroying the mortal pile of crap with a swing of Laevateinn, batting the rest of the men in black straight in to the air, but that didn't still stop them from attempting a second group assault. He caught a glimpse of Mayura struggling against her captor, who was dragging her back towards the edge of the curb, and started to move for her, when more men blocked his way.

"GET DOWN, LOKI!"

When a familiar voice demanded that one do as told, one just didn't argue, and Loki ducked to the ground, as he felt a breeze soaring over him, which was really Narugami on his bicycle careening at an almost horizontal angle, wheels aimed in to the men in black, pulverizing them to the pavement. With a quick thanks for his friend's assistance, he dashed for Mayura and the villain who dared to kidnap his mortal, but a mysterious, black limousine with tinted windows screeched to a halt behind them.

The door flew open, and he shoved a yelping Mayura in to it. He quickly slammed the door shut, and the vehicle sped off. He turned around just as Loki reached him and grinned smugly at the blonde, at the success of their mission, which Loki didn't take very well and jabbed the top of Laevateinn in to his stomach, like he saw that coming. Loki grabbed the man by his collar, "Why are you taking her?!"

"I'll never talk!"

Narugami rode over to them as Loki commended the lackies on their loyalty to their employer and whacked the staff at the man's head, knocking him out. He dropped the man to the ground, having no need for him, since he could track Mayura down anyway.

"So someone abducted Daidouji again?!" Narugami frowned, hating underhanded tactics, "You think... uh, it's Baldur?"

He shook his head, "The idiot might not like to get his hands dirty, but he wouldn't use mortals to do this."

"Hm, you think Daidouji is secretly an heiress, and now her real family has tracked her down to take over the family empire?! Or she's a lost princess of a small nation, the next in line for the throne?!"

Loki sweatdropped, "Have you been watching anime again?"

"No, the girls at work bring in their _shoujo_ manga..."

Both were weirdly immersed in the conversation, not noticing a stray man in black holding a pipe behind them, until a small red ball flew out of nowhere and smacked him in the head. The ball, with a white string attached to it, fell on to a spike of a wooden toy as the man fell over with a loud thud, and Narugami and Loki looked down to the unconscious man then up to their supposed savior in the form of Heimdall, playing with the _kendama_ toy in his hands. ******

"Are you two seriously discussing that?" Heimdall sighed, pitching the ball in to the air again, and when it came down, he caught it in a smaller cup, "I'm sure nee-chan needs your help right now."

"We don't need to be told that by a child," Loki waved him off like the little kid he was, "playing with his toy."

"I just saved you idiots!" he yelled, wanting to hit Loki's head with the ball, but he turned away and stalked off, having better things to do than argue childishly, like his continuous search for his beloved right eye. (Ah, good to see Heimdall doing so well.)

"Get on!" Narugami shoved the delivery box in to Loki's arm to clear out the back seat, "We'll get to them faster this way, but be careful with my delivery. I still need to get it to the customer soon!"

As if Loki had a choice, he didn't hesitate because Mayura was much more important than his weakness.

* * *

Mayura winced from the pain in her arm, the spot where the man in black had gripped her, rubbing the soreness with one hand while the ran her fingers over the cool, leather cushion. She found herself in the backseat of the mysterious, black limousine, across from a worried Koutaro staring at her.

"Koutaro-kun?" she blinked at him, "What's going on?!"

When the sequences of the last few minutes returned to her, she became upset, "Please let me out of here! I need to see Loki-kun! He could be hurt!"

"I'm sorry, Mayura, but I can't do that."

Seeing that he really wasn't going to let her go, she sprung for the door, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back against his chest, holding her there, as she continued to fight against him. He wrapped both arms around her, tightly, ceasing her wild movements, his breath burning against her neck, "I'm really sorry, Mayura, but... I had no choice.

"Loki is a bad person. Can't you see he's trying to seduce you, for whatever reasons... his lust, his vanity..."

"What are you talking about!" she cried, offended by his words, "Loki-kun-"

Koutaro buried his nose within the intoxicating fragrance of her hair, inhaling creepily, and explained in a low voice, "I've tried to get information on him and this so called detective agency of his, but there's nothing... The agency might be recent, but there's not even a birth date or his hometown, not a single background on Loki.

"And the people associated with him, there's nothing on them either! How is that possible?!"

He squeezed her again, afraid for her safety with these strangers, "They're dangerous... What if they had some connections with the shady underground world?"

Mayura sweatdropped, thinking how there was no way Koutaro or anyone could ever get information on gods that weren't supposed to even exist on earth, so any investigation and poking was rather pointless, but she couldn't tell him that. She sighed, "You have it all wrong, Koutaro-kun. Loki-kun and his family and friends, they're good people! They're very important to me, especially Loki-kun... He would never hurt me or let anyone or anything hurt me either.

"He promised me," she smiled, eyes softened at the many memories with Loki.

Koutaro, not liking her defense of such a suspicious character, turned her around to him, holding her shoulders, wishing that she would understand he was doing all this for her, how important she was to him, and he couldn't let anyone take her away from him, not some stranger that just suddenly fell in to her life.

"I can't trust anyone I don't know!" his voice rose with visible anger, "He's been suspicious since the beginning! Father and son! Their resemblance is so uncanny, to the point of being creepy! How they're both possessive of you!

"Mayura, you have to see this is not good for you!"

She blushed and placed a comforting a hand over her classmate's, smiling appreciatively, "Thank you for worrying about me, but you shouldn't. I trust Loki-kun."

Every time she mentioned his name or even thought of him, Koutaro could see the endless adoration and affection she held for Loki, her faith and devotion unwavering in him. Her voice, filled with much the deep emotion from her heart, spoke with such resolution, "Loki-kun is someone I love the most."

He stared at her, in shock from her declaration, the truth shimmering in her beautiful, ruby eyes, but her words were painful to hear. Still gripping her shoulders, he gave them a squeeze, and the vehicle suddenly jerked to a stop, throwing the two passengers from their thoughts. He lurched forward, accidentally pushing her back on to the seat, and as he gazed down at her innocent face, he felt the frustration return, not able to accept her feelings for another man, who should be a complete stranger to her.

She should have had feelings for him instead!

Koutaro frowned, eyes boring in to hers, "I can't accept your feelings for that man.

"You should give up on him - some mysterious person that could just, one day, vanish from your life."

His words stung, leaving her speechless, and he could see it in her wide eyes that he had hit a sore spot. It pained him to see her like this, so weak and helpless, but if this was what it took to make her understand, then he would be the villain and show her the reality of the impossible.

* * *

Meanwhile, Narugami was pedaling like a madman, weaving through the throngs of people on the sidewalk, almost tempted to hop in to the roads where the cars were much easier to maneuver through, but Loki, looking very ill, was guiding him after the white thread. He closed his eyes briefly to get over the nauseating feeling, but at the sensation of her uneasiness, his eyes snapped opened.

"Hurry, Narugami," he, for once, pleaded to his friend, "Please."

It was strange to hear the desperation in Loki's voice, having known him for a long time, but Narugami knew, since the beginning, that Mayura had a great effect on the trickster god. He grinned to himself, hard to imagine his friend to settling down, on Midgard of all places, but it was a lot of good blackmail material - definitely inherited this sneakiness from Odin.

"Gyah!"

Narugami ducked his down, after spotting a man in black, from out of nowhere, swinging a bat at him, and Loki was able to avoid it too, retaliating with a swing of the delivery box in to the man's face, knocking him out. With one down, two... three, a few more popped up from various places along side the walkway, with the intent of stopping them from pursuing the black limousine.

"Crap, who are these people?!" the god of thunder cursed, "They're sproutin' up like instant weed!"

They were just the modern day ninjas, in servitude of the Kakinouchi household, still not able to fit properly in to today's society despite their classy, black suits. Their camouflage scored high on the charts, but not so much with their fighting abilities, earning a few smacks from Laevateinn and Mjollnir with the addition of some random fireballs and lightning bolts out of nowhere.

Narugami was closing in on the stopped traffic ahead, a heavy build up at the intersection due to a lucky accident - not so lucky for those involved - and Loki spotted the black vehicle right away.

The large human blockade stopped them ahead while another group appeared from the rear, trapping them off in two directions, including three when their one side is closed off by commercial buildings, but then across the road was another group ready for a final showdown. Forget weed, they were more annoying like pests!

As if things couldn't get any worse, the sound of a helicoper became louder, coming from above them, and they nearly fell over when they saw more men in black zipping down to the earth like trained soldiers - maybe these were the elite men in black? They all targeted the moving bicycle, their goal was to eliminate any obstacles and pursuers of their young master.

Narugami turned the bicycle in to the road and hopped it on a car, still pedaling like crazy on top of the vehicles stuck in traffic, a very bumpy ride for Loki, who planned to strangle the brunette after the ordeal was over. The two-wheel transportation suddenly took flight, soaring insanely through the air, with the limousine not too far off. Narugami pulled back on the handle bar a tad, giving the bicycle an angle before it landed, back wheels hitting the trunk of the vehicle, followed by the front wheels falling on the roof.

Despite the dark tint of the windows, Loki could still make out two people in the back seat, one recognizable figure of Mayura, and he didn't care for the other person. He immediately got out of his seat, throwing the delivery box back to Narugami, and hopped to solid ground again, ignoring the queasy feeling in his stomach which would definitely go away after seeing her safely in his arms.

He reached for the car door just as it clicked open, and one bright smile of a pink-haired girl greeted him. She practically flew out of the car and straight in to his welcoming arms and hugged him so tightly, reassuring herself that he really was there in her arms. He returned her loving embrace with a squeeze and buried a hand in to her hair, stroking it affectionately, and placed a kiss on her crown.

She pulled back from it a bit to see his handsome face clearly, such a gentle expression he gave her that she felt her insides turned to jelly, and she blushed, "Thank you, Loki-kun."

"I promised, didn't I?" he smiled.

She nodded and straightened her posture, the bit of uncertainty from earlier disappeared as she turned to face an unsatisfied Koutaro glaring at Loki from his seat. With Loki's presence right next to her, the warmth of his body bathing her in security and strength of his arms around her gave her the courage to continue to believe.

"That may be true," she smiled beautifully, addressing Koutaro, without a wavering heart, "but for now, I am happy to be by his side."

Loki took her hand and turned away, prepared to leave the chaos around them, but they were surrounded. With a calm, simmering stare, he glanced over to Koutaro, who had exited the car and stood by it, and with a flick of his hand to his men, signaling them to retreat, he met the god's gaze evenly, "For now, I leave her in your care."

No words were exchanged after that, the pair walking away from the scene, but Koutaro had caught a flash of fiery red in his rival's eyes, wondering if he had just imagined it not. A terrifying feeling creeping over his skin, but the loud cry above him, from the car's rooftop, interrupted his thoughts, and he sweatdropped at the sight of Narugami speeding off, down the front of the limousine, creating a dent on the hood before zooming in to the distance to make his very late delivery.

* * *

"Sorry, Loki-kun..."

Mayura sighed, apologizing for the fourth time on their way back to the agency, having ruined their little outing with another kidnapping, not that it was her fault, but she had been the reason for it happening. It had gotten late too, and both were exhausted to even bother with ice cream anymore, so it was best to just reschedule their date when the worlds were not out to get them.

Since they were so close to 'home,' on the street where the agency sat, she sped up a bit, eager for a nice, delicious dinner by Yamino with her important people, but he wasn't in a hurry and stopped, giving their clasped hands a jerk, bringing her back to him.

"If you don't stop apologizing," he grinned, licking his lips for emphasis, "I'll have to si-"

He never saw it coming, the softness of her lips pressed against his, silencing his unfinished words instead, as her free hand found its way up to his face, gently caressing his skin. The sparks from her touch sent waves of indescribable feelings through his body, a sudden heat rising from the pit of his stomach and spreading through every inch of him. He released her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her flushed against his body, while his unbound hand cradled the back of her head, fingers lost in the sea of pink strands.

Her hands craved the contact of his skin, fingers brushing across his cheeks, along his jawline down to his neck, and she felt him shudder beneath her curious touch.

He was passionate, hungry like a child wanting to taste more of his favorite meal, his lips seeking out her clumsy ones, nipping and sucking at her innocence, teasing her with the endless possibilities from his more experienced mouth. She wanted to giggle at his eagerness, smiling in to his kisses, with her fingers diving in to the silkiness of his golden hair, but the lack of air forced her to push back from him, gasping from their intense exchange. He wasn't willing to let go just yet, allowing just two seconds of oxygen, before he claimed her lips again.

"Ah! He's eating her face!"

Now this time really did force them apart, mainly from a surprised Mayura shoving an annoyed Loki back, and they stared at the three young kids staring at them in awe and horror. The little girl looked like she was about to cry, when one of the boys, the tough and disgusted looking one, said, "Eew, they're doing grown up stuff!"

"Oooh~!"

The girl's expression changed to that of wonder, and the pair sweatdropped, hurrying away from the scene before someone could claim the two were corrupting the youth of today, hand in hand, and laughing.

"Oh, now I feel so bad!" Mayura pouted.

Loki arched his brows at her, "What? You regret what we did?"

She blushed and crinkled her nose, "No! Not that! I meant... well, I promised to get Hel-chan, Yamino and Fenrir something from our trip."

"I'm sure they'll understand that having you back unharmed was more important," he chuckled as they stepped through the gates.

"Tell that to Fenrir," she giggled, and both sighed at the puppy's huge appetite.

They entered the agency, finding the atmosphere a bit different and weird, and hesitantly announced their return home, which was pretty much a second home for Mayura since she spent half her time over here and sometimes fell in to the MIA category by her father - good thing she still had her mobile phone. And it was just too disturbingly quiet.

Hel-chan poked her head from the dining room, looking very nervous, "Um, welcome home, chichi-ue. Mayura-san."

"What's wrong, Hel-chan?" Mayura walked over to her friend, concerned with her strangeness, "Did something happen while we were out?"

"Ano, you could say that..." She looked at her father with slight panic, "Um, we have... a visitor." She motioned them in to the room, "Please remain calm, chichi-ue."

He exchanged puzzled glances with Mayura, and the two followed the goddess in to the dining room, where everyone, including an awake Hodur, was present with the new face. Mayura blinked at the young woman, seated at the head of the table, slurping down what appeared to be her third serving of ramen, and in front of her were more empty plates of food, while Yamino and Fenrir were on one side, sweatdropping. Hodur, on the other side, had no clue as to what was going on, but he could smell the yummy food, searching the table with his hands for his plate.

Mayura, smiling, not noticing that Loki had frozen in his spot behind her, walked up to their guest and bowed politely, "Hello! My name is Daidouji Mayura. It's a pleasure to meet you..."

The woman stopped eating, putting the bowl down, and stared blankly at the mortal girl. There was an awkward silence, as if every occupant in the whole room had held their breaths, and Mayura sweatdropped, wondering if she came out a bit too strong in her introduction.

A wooden sign popped out of nowhere in front of Mayura's eyes, and she blinked and read the words aloud, "_'Likewise. I'm Spice.'_"

The woman turned the sign to see the words and frowned, quickly correcting the mistake with a random black marker, and showed it to Mayura again, "Ah! Spica!"

The woman named Spica nodded and returned to eating, while Mayura turned to everyone else, wondering why the silent atmosphere was so heavy and filled with tension, mainly from Loki's brooding children, who all turned their heads to their father still standing at the edge of the room as if he held the answer to relieve them of the terrible secret that they felt guilty for keeping from the mortal.

"Spica?" Hodur's voice repeated in innocent wonder, "I thought you were Angrboda-sama?"

"..."

Spica's sign: _'I'm Spica on Midgard.'_

As if Hodur could actually see it, but that wasn't the point, because this was really for Mayura's benefit. "So Spica-sama is a goddess too?" the mortal asked curiously.

Spica's sign: _'No. A giant.'_

"Eh?!"

She stared at the pretty woman who looked nothing like a giant - at least the ones from storybooks - asking for a fourth serving of ramen from Yamino, who obediently fetched her another bowl. She glanced over to Loki, who appeared very apprehensive and uncharacteristically silent, and called to him, her head tilted curiously at him, "Loki-kun, why are you still standing there? You have a guest here."

He didn't walk too far, just moving to the opposite end of the table, uncertain of how this would play out before him, "Why are you here, Angrboda?"

Spica's sign: _'It's Spica!'_

Those were the last words Loki saw before the whole sign went flying in to his face, knocking him off his feet, while those concerned for his welfare jumped to their feet and rushed to him.

"Loki-kun!"

'Daddy!'

"Chichi-ue!"

"Wh-what happened?!" Hodur's head whirled about, still in the darkness of darkness about the situation.

Yamino had hurry back with a huge bowl of ramen, but it was too late to save the day, seeing his father on the floor, "Loki-sama!"

'Mom! Why did you do that to daddy?!' Fenrir barked angrily.

Spica's sign: _'It slipped.'_

Mayura blinked, "'Mom'? Spica-sama is..." She looked at Hel-chan, then Yamino, then Fenrir... and finally on to a sweatdropping Loki, rubbing his face, "Spica-sama is their mother?"

* * *

***** _Haha-ue_ is the archaic, formal form of "mother" - in keeping with Hel-chan's speech.

****** _Kendama_ is a traditional Japanese toy that has two wooden cups placed on a spike, with a ball attached to it by a string, similar to the cup-and-ball game - I could just imagine Kazumi playing with one, lol.

* * *

**Notes:** This... keeps getting longer and longer as I type. I changed the last scene a few times, debating on whether to have that sign hit Loki or not, lol.

There's a few references to other anime series in this chapter. One - Heimdall playing with the _kendama_ and using it as a weapon, like Sasuke Sarutobi in _Samurai Deeper Kyo_; two - Loki & Mayura's kissing scene is similar to Ririchiyo Shirakiin & Soushi Miketsukami from _Inu x Boku SS_ with the three kids watching; and three - Spica and the wooden signs like Genma Saotome from _Ranma 1/2_... lol. I always thought Spica with signs would be funny. Good job if you recognized them! -kuro.


	40. Chapter 40

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Forty.**

Mayura had always known there was a mother involved in Loki's children's lives, but no one had ever bothered to bring up the subject, and now to finally meet her, it was like a giant boulder - or well a giant - had fallen on her head. And to think, she had resolved her own feelings for the god just to have this major fact remind her that a mortal and a god could never have a happily ever after.

With each beat of that uncomfortable feeling in her heart, she knew this, somehow, didn't involve her, and suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! It's getting late! I better hurry home not to worry papa! It was... nice meeting you, Spica-sama."

Spica's sign: _'Yes. See you.'_

There was just something funny and cute about the sight of Spica eating and holding up the wooden sign that made Mayura smile and giggle. She bowed to everyone, still in their stupor over their current circumstance, and quickly bid everyone a goodbye before disappearing out the doorway, much too fast for anyone to really react.

Loki scrambled to his feet and chased after the girl, who was obviously doing her best to hide her feelings again, and he didn't want that. He cared too much to leave her alone like this, and this was a crucial time that he had to be truthful with her as she had been with him.

'Daddy!' Fenrir called, but it was no use in stopping the god when he was that focused. He turned to Spica, who was still eating like the scene, and he became very upset, 'Mom! Why are you here? You're... You're going to mess up things for daddy!'

Hel-chan looked like she was about to burst in to tears, but thank goodness for responsible, older brother Yamino to comfort her, reassuring that everything was going to be okay and that Mayura was accepting and forgiving. They respected their mother, however short of time she spent with them, but they had always been their father's children, so to put his happiness first was a given, and the mortal girl had grown just as important to them, a great place in their hearts.

Spica's sign: _'It's that time of the century, when I see you three.'_

They sweatdropped and looked at each other, questioning if it was true that it was time for her visit again. Every hundred years, Angroboda would visit her children and spend one day with them due to a contracted agreement between her and Loki when they had separated. He would take the children with him, and she would get his large hall in Jotunheim - a mutual, amicable separation that both sides were pleased with.

She continued eating, keeping a passive eye on her kids discussing the current situation in whispers, glad that Hel-chan was on Midgard, so she wouldn't have to make another trip to Helheim like she normally would. Plus, Midgard has such exotic and delicious food, if she had known this a few centuries ago, she would've made a trip to this place.

Hel-chan turned to her mother, "Haha-ue, if it's just that, we're okay with it, but... concerning chichi-ue and Mayura-san..."

Spica, overlooked Hel-chan's insinuation, more focused on the next course of her dining experience, holding up a sign: _'What's for dessert?'_

The three kids fell over, and Hodur blurted out, "I'm hungry!"

* * *

Loki flew out the front door and off the steps to take hold of Mayura's wrist, a certain fear, that he didn't want to admit to, of the possibility of the mortal walking out of his immortal life, and he didn't want that. She stopped and looked at him, the bit of sadness laced with confusion in her eyes, and he told her quietly, "Let me walk you home."

She gave him a small laugh and smiled, "I know my way home, Loki-kun."

He sighed and gently bopped her head, "Of course, but I don't feel at ease when you're alone." He raised his eyes to the evening skies, "And it's getting dark." Looking at her again, he was very final on the matter, "After all that's happened, I can't let you out of my sight."

"You're being stubborn," she huffed out, "It's only a few blocks away, so you don't have to be so protective."

"Why not? You're always attracting trouble..." He noticed the change in her expression to something more dark at his terrible selection of words and attempted to correct himself, "I mean, I can't help but worry...?" He sweatdropped, dreading her scolding on his awful communication skills, but she lowered her eyes, staring at the ground.

"Loki-kun has a family to protect too," her voice was so soft, threatening to be lost in the breeze, "Spica-sama is visiting... You should return to her side."

He sighed without another word, taking her hand within his own, and pulled her along, very adamant about walking her home. She continued to protest verbally but didn't resist from his touch, letting the warmth of his hand comfort her. Her fingers shifted until they were entwined with his own, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb in a circular pattern, reminding her that he was indeed at her side.

He gave her a gentle squeeze of her hand, to reassure them both that it was just the two of them, and she leaned the side of her head against his shoulder as they walked. After a few moments of silence, just enjoying each other's presence, she spoke softly, "Even if Spica-sama is here, I... still want to be by your side." She shyly peered up to him, eyes shimmering with hope, "If... it's okay with Loki-kun."

He smiled and leaned over to place a kiss to her head, "I can't imagine not having you with me."

Mayura closed her eyes and wondered aloud, "Loki-kun probably use this line all the time with girls."

"What? No... Why would I do that?" He frowned, "It's not my fault they misunderstand my kindness."

She opened her eyes again, laughing softly at his misfortune, and smiled sadly, "Then Spica-sama must be special for you to marry her." She felt him tense up, the stiffness of his hand, and quickly apologize for bringing up the subject of his wife, "I won't ask anymore."

"That's not it," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, having planned to tell her about his situation with Spica, "She's not my wife or anything. At the time, it was just convenient for both of us." She gave him a weird look, because she thought about the three children that came from their union, and he sweatdropped, figuring that she wasn't happy with his answer since it involved his past, "It's... complicated..."

She sighed, "It's okay, Loki-kun. You don't have to be so nervous about it.

"Whatever happened between you and Spica-sama isn't my business, but I'm grateful that you two have a nice bond too," her smile illuminated beautifully in to the evening, "If you guys didn't, then Yamino-san, Fenrir, and Hel-chan wouldn't be born in to this life... and I would never have met them.

"And I can't imagine not having them in my life either, just like Loki-kun."

"Mayura..."

He was speechless, from her sincerity and love for him and his children, and all he could do was take the sweet, mortal girl in to his arms and hold her, wondering quietly if he really deserve such happiness and devotion. He felt her arms around him too, embracing him, returning his appreciation and love with equal feeling and much more.

So the walk to the Daidouji home was delayed just a bit, with some hugs and a few more secret kisses, and no children in sight to destroy the intimacy, but Mayura's father sure knew how to ruin the fun for the trickster god, even when the man wasn't near them, interrupting the good part by phone. He nipped at her ear lobe, earning a pleasant squeak of surprise, before she pushed him away to answer the phone call.

"I know, papa... What? Really... Now? Okay... Yes, I'm... on my way home... I will... Have a safe trip." she sighed out a goodbye and hung up, glaring at an amused Loki.

"What?" he grinned innocently.

"Papa has to go out of town on business. Something about a classmate in Sendai needing his help," she eyed him suspiciously, "Papa's been traveling a lot lately. Loki-kun... didn't have a hand in it?"

"Of course... not... today," he stifled a chuckled, "at least."

"Mou Loki-kun!" she stomped away from him, "Papa's hardly been at home."

He jogged after her and grabbed her hand to stop her, "Well that means you can stay over."

"No way!" she stuck her tongue out at him, "I need to be home once in a while."

"I'm going to be lonely..."

Loki rubbed their hands together, attempting to play the poor, sad victim of loneliness, and his pitiful, gorgeous green eyes almost sucked her in, if she didn't know any better. She just had to look away from them to avoid his irresistible seduction, huffing out, "How can you, when you have a full house of people?"

He smirked, "Who said it was my house? I was talking about my b-!"

She quickly clamped her hand over his mouth, "I'm going home! Good night, Loki-kun!" And with that, she removed her hand from him and gave him a sweet, chaste kiss on the lips before running down the street, with the intent on wearing herself out physically from the wild imaginations that Loki always managed to plant in her head. She pouted, able to hear his merry laughter lingering behind her.

"Loki-kun is too sly!" she whined, face completely red.

* * *

And so the next morning, being a Saturday, Mayura stomped down the stairway of the now empty house, since her father had take a trip up north, towards the front door. She had no idea who could at the door step so early in the morning - if one considered nine o'clock early on a weekend, which it totally was. She smoothed out her pajama top and lightly slapped her cheeks to awaken herself, and with one last yawn, she opened the door.

Her jaw dropped, surprised to see Spica, the last person on earth that she imagined to be standing in front of her. She looked behind the giantess and around her, seeing that it was just a single visitor, who had a bag of freshly baked doughnuts in one arm while munching indifferently on one.

"G-Good morning, Spica-sama," Mayura greeted, unsure.

With the doughnut stuffed in her mouth, Spica's hand was free to whip out a sign: _'Let's have breakfast together.'_

The mortal sweatdropped, as the woman bit in to the next doughnut, and asked, pointing to the bag, "Ano, isn't Spica-sama eating breakfast right now?"

Spica's sign: _'It's a snack.'_

Mayura fell over in response. She partially climbed back up with the support of the door, motioning for her visitor to come in, "Ah, just give me a few minutes to get ready."

Spica nodded, starting on her seventh doughnut, and entered the Daidouji home.

* * *

The door flew open and hit the wall, shaking the foundation of the house, and the panicked Hel-chan and Yamino rushed in to the room that belonged to their father, alarming the blonde god out of his pleasant slumber. He propped himself up on an elbow, rubbing his eye with his other hand, wondering why he was receiving a very noisy wake up call from his children.

"Loki-sama!"

"Chichi-ue!"

The two siblings shouted simultaneously, "We can't find Spica-sama/haha-ue!"

"Wha...?"

Loki was still drowsy with sleep, the words not even processing in his head, because he knew Spica just came to spend time with the kids just like their agreement had been over the centuries, which he would never deny her. But the hysteria in Hel-chan's voice made him realize the giantess' disappearance was very suspicious and maybe a bit sinister.

His first thought was of Mayura, and his eyes snapped wide open, realizing the potential of a disaster in the future. The possibility of Spica seeking out Mayura was at the forefront of his mind - not an every day occurrence for a giant to leave Jotunheim and meet a rare mortal like Mayura.

Loki cursed under his breath and threw the covers from his person, in the process flipping a sleeping Fenrir through the air, and the puppy landed roughly on to the floor with a yelp, jarring him out of dreamland.

"I'm sorry, Fenrir!" he apologized in haste, rushing towards the closet for his clothes, but Yamino had already beaten him to it, pulling out his usual white shirt and dress pants. He murmured a quick thanks and dashed for the bathroom to clean up, leaving the kids to deliberate among themselves over the problem.

Fenrir climbed back on to the bed, yawning, 'So... she's not anywhere in the house?'

"Not even outside!"

Hel-chan was freaking out the most over this, while Yamino finished preparing their father's outfit and quickly made the bed like the good son that he was, ignoring Fenrir's complaints of ruining his sleep. The puppy rolled back under the covers that Yamino had just fixed, wanting to just stay in bed all day and definitely have breakfast in bed too.

The goddess snatched him out of bed, threatening to shake him awake, "Ani-ue! We need you with us! You have to track down haha-ue before she makes things worse!"

Worse for who? The people of Midgard? Or Mayura and Loki?

* * *

Mayura sweatdropped, along with the four servers, at the twelve plates being set upon the table, in between her and a quiet Spica, whose eyes were glued to the colorful morning dishes at a local breakfast eatery, _Jojo's Coffee House_. She thanked the employees, who were half-curious and half-ill with the many servings for two customers, wondering if it was possible for anyone to eat so much. *****

Spica had ordered all the morning set dishes from the menu, with the addition of the side items too - from the _Scrambled Morning_ set of scrambled eggs, sausage and tater tots to the _Hot Sandwich Morning_ set of a ham sandwich and fries, to a mini-pizza, salads and more toast and fries - while a sweatdropping Mayura was happy with her plate of pancakes with fruits and yogurt. She felt that Spica was going to eat enough for a party of six people, and just that thought had made her full.

"_Itadakimasu_~!"

The girl smiled, picking up the fork and knife, ready to dive right in to yummy Western breakfast, but Spica had beaten her to the first bite, practically shoveling the scrambled eggs in to the black hole that was her mouth. She could only stare in amazement at the speed to which this giantess, in the form of a small human woman, had cleared one plate in a matter of seconds.

People around them stared inconspicuously, and Mayura smiled and giggled, "Spica-sama really loves to eat."

She nodded, the food of Midgard was too scrumptious to pass up, and moved on to the sandwiches, taking it in with only three huge bites, ignoring the bits of food stuck to the sides of her mouth again, not caring what others thought of her.

Mayura plopped a piece of pancake in to her mouth, looking thoughtful. When she chewed and swallowed, she started speaking again, "There are a lot of good places around here."

Spica stopped eating and stared at at the mortal, no difference in her expression but her eyes appeared to be sparkling at those magical words. She pulled out a sign: _'Great! Let's hit all the places!'_

She sweatdropped, nodding hesitantly, a nervous smile plastered on her face, and wondered if her allowance could cover the food binge. She was lucky that, after the school festival fiasco and all the damages repaired, she made a small profit from it and hadn't had the opportunity to spend her money yet. Being a good hostess to her guest was in her blood, but Mayura didn't mind it at all, and this would allow her to spend some time with the giantess.

Though she sometimes wonder if she wasn't babysitting a child instead, seeing that Spica had gotten tomato soup all over her mouth. She sweatdropped and reached over to the purple-haired woman with a napkin and gently wiped her mouth clean, giggling, "Let's keep the food in your mouth and off your clothes."

Spica nodded appreciatively and resumed eating.

* * *

Finally, after a certain someone (Yamino) insisted that they had a proper breakfast before running about town and another certain someone (Fenrir) totally agreed because food was involved, Loki and his kids were on the streets, searching for Mayura and Spica. Even though Fenrir had picked up on their scents, Loki already had the convenient trail of the white thread at his fingertips, so they followed their father instead, who had the clearer path.

And what were the odds that this particular street they were heading down had the one road lined with street food vendors!

They all flatly thought of Spica and her appetite as they passed by a _takoyaki_ vendor, then an _onigiri_ vendor, followed by a crepe vendor and a roast sweet potato vendor, and Fenrir just had to state the obvious, 'Ah! They really came through here!'

He drooled, wagging his tail happily, at the sight of the food, and walking along side his father through the crowds of customers mixed in with the street food vendors, he sniffed the air, the lovely aroma of food brought tears to his eyes, as he barked, 'Mom and daddy's girlfriend hit every single one of them!'

Loki sweatdropped while streams of tears were pouring from Yamino and Hel-chan's eyes, weeping for the heavy dent in Mayura's monetary assets, "Mayura-san, bless your heart."

Since they were in a hurry and way far behind the two females, they had no time for food breaks. Loki pushed forward, followed by Yamino, and Hel-chan had to scoop up a lingering Fenrir in to her arms and run after the others, so the poor puppy could only watch on sadly as the distance between him and morsel of edible treasures flashed by until he could no longer see them.

Only the mouth-watering aroma left a lingering memory and emptiness in Fenrir's stomach and heart.

* * *

"Eh! Narugami-kun is working here?!"

Mayura was surprised to see the god of thunder at a different venue of job, recalling the last time he was at the ramen restaurant? Or was it the _udon_ stall? Or maybe it was the crepe shop?

She shook her head of the confusion and sat down at one end of the counter of the open eatery, with Spica next to her, the length of the hot plate stretched to the other side of the bar, and behind it stood Narugami in all his glory as a _okonomiyaki_ chef for the day. He shrugged to Mayura's comment, but his eyes focused on the new face, and he pointed the spatula rudely at Spica, who was busy reading the menu, "Angrboda!"

Without missing a beat, Spica shoved her wooden sign in to Narugami's face: _'Call me Spica!'_

"Uh, Spica... what are you doing here?!"

Spica's sign: _'For lunch.'_

Mayura, sweatdropping, laughed, "Well Spica-sama will be eating lunch. I'm still full from our snacking." Her stomach would probably be full for the rest of the day and in to the next day, if that was possible, so she only ordered a glass of juice.

"So Narugami-kun," she started, "What happened to your other part-time jobs?"

Throwing some batter on to the hot plate and sprinkling it with some toppings, he shrugged, "They didn't work out."

"You were fired," Mayura deadpanned.

He sweatdropped and looked over to Spica, in hopes of diverting the subject off him, "So... does Loki know you about you being here? On Midgard, I mean."

Spica looked up at him briefly and glanced over to Mayura with a sigh before returning to the menu again, and Mayura laughed at the confusion on Narugami's face and explained, having had permission from the giantess to do the talking, "Loki-kun knows. Spica-sama came to see them, but today, we're having a girls' day out to take in the sights... err, and food. Heheh."

He shook his head with disbelief, "It's just so weird... to see Loki's ex and girlfriend together."

Mayura sweatdropped, because Loki may have expressed his feelings to her and they have spent more time together but he didn't technically asked her to be his... girlfriend? A god's girlfriend?

That sounded just as strange as thinking it, and she must have made a weird expression because Narugami apologized, "I didn't mean anything by it, but you two get along pretty well."

Spica, ignoring his comments, showed the menu to him and pointed to everything on it, earning many tiny sweatdrops from Narugami and Mayura, and the latter was still in awe by the giantess' endless appetite.

The rookie chef set the menu aside and grinned, prepared to whip up some badass, savory pancakes, "I'll make you the best the _okonomiyaki_ there is! It'll leave you so full, you won't ask for another!"

Mayura laughed, hoping it would be true because she wasn't sure how much more her purse could take from their outing, and watched Narugami show off with his cooking skills, piling a bunch of random toppings on to the large batter. The smaller _okonomiyaki_ cooked faster and he gathered those on to a plate to temporarily satiate the forever famished Spica till his masterpiece was complete.

"I'm not so sure about that," the girl grinned, "When it comes to food, I think Spica-sama has you and Fenrir beat, hands down."

Being very competitive by nature, Narugami, still diligently cooking, spared her a pointed, offended look, "Pfft, we don't know that until we have a proper contest!"

She laughed, "Aha, it's very clear who the winner is without having a contest!"

Spica, enjoying the small appetizers in front of her, found herself with a small grin, as she listened to the friends bicker back and forth.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Loki and family had stopped by the _okonomiyaki_ counter, not too surprised to find Narugami working there, and neither was the god of thunder surprised to see the four of them all flustered and restless. He flipped a pancake into the air, letting the other side land back on the hot plate for further cooking, and grinned in his friend's direction.

"You guys just missed them."

The blonde god restrained himself from slapping his forehead, while his kids growned tiresomely. He was off again without another word, Yamino following him obediently, which left Hel-chan and Fenrir to speak with Narugami, inquiring the atmosphere between the two young women.

Narugami appeared thoughtful and laughed, "Are you guys worried your real mother might not get along with your new one?"

The siblings sweatdropped and then excused themselves before the god could even tell them they had nothing to worry about. He just shrugged and returned to his job, laughing happily that he was a bachelor, not having to worry about crazy females throwing themselves at him. (We shall see about that, Narugami-kun.)

* * *

With Spica beside her, Mayura entered the ice cream parlor, waving the coupon from the other day in her hand. She was sure Loki wouldn't mind too much that she used it on Spica - in a way, it would be like a nice gift from the both of them. They stopped in their trek and stared ahead to the three familiar customers in front of them.

"I didn't want to come here!" Heimdall shouted, frowning and throwing a tantrum like the brat that he was, at a chipper Freyr clutching on to some free ice cream coupons, while Freya, on the other side of her brother, was all sulky and annoyed.

"Me neither!" the goddess huffed out.

"Freyr wants to treat Freyr's sister and Freyr's best friend to ice cream!" the god pulled his two companion in to a hug, nearly choking the life out of them."

"Nii-sama! I'm not a child!"

"I may look like a child, but I hate ice cream!"

"No way!" Mayura cried at Heimdall's declaration, and all eyes turned to her - from dark annoyance to pure adoration - but she was focused on the smallest of the immortals, crimson eyes sparkling with great will power, "Kazumi-kun! Ice cream is the heart of child's true joy!"

She ignored his 'but I'm really a god' comment, "It cools you on a hot summer's day, and strengthens your friendship! It is the peace that makes the world go round!"

"Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko!"

Said god, deeply moved by Mayura's speech, stretched his loving arms towards the mortal, only to be greeted by a wooden sign to his face from an apathetic Spica, who then took the girl's hand and dragged her away from the trio to the front of the line to see all the ice cream flavors.

Heimdall was very surprised to see Angrboda, but Freya was just the opposite, burning with rage that Loki's ex dared to make an appearance on Midgard. She already had enough problems with Mayura in the picture and now with the giantess here, she had to put in more work to get Loki alone, all for herself. And how in the world were those two - one mortal and one giant - getting along so well, when they should be fighting over Loki.

Mayura looked at the coupon in her hand, "It says here that you can choose up to three flavors and two topppings." She returned to the variety of selection and asked her companion, "Which would you like, Spica-sama?"

The giantess stared at the many flavors, in deep thought, not able to come up with her choices, and Mayura could sense the trouble from her and smiled, "Just pick the first three you see. We can come back again to try more."

Spica blinked and held up her sign: _'Really?'_

She nodded, smiling, laughter twinkling in her eyes, "Of course! We'll try all the flavors!"

"Angrboda!" Freya called, from behind them, "Did you come to take Loki back?!"

Spica's sign: _'It's Spica! And do you see Loki with us?'_

The blonde goddess sweatdropped, point clearly taken, and it was her brother's turn to interrupt them, "Yamato Nadeshiko! Why are you here with that villainous trickster Loki's woman?!"

He reached his hands out to take Mayura's, but once again, his face was greeted by Spica's sign: _'For ice cream!'_

And this all happened in the middle of the ice cream parlor, with many onlookers who found the display very entertaining to go with their ice cream treats. To add to all of it, the doors dramatically flew open, and Loki appeared in all his brilliant glory, with Hel-chan and Yamino on either side of him and Fenrir in front of him, barking proudly at the climatic entrance.

It only took seconds for Loki to home in on his mortal's form among the customers, "Mayura!"

"Loki!" Freya chirped and bounced happily in his direction. She opened her arms for a hug, but Loki had already moved towards Mayura and Spica, leaving her to embrace the cold air.

"Mayura, are you all right?" he was by her side within seconds, checking her from top to bottom, before turning to Spica with a questioning look. His mouth opened to say something to her, but Mayura had cut in excitedly.

"Of course! I was with Spica-sama all day!" she smiled, and it grew even brighter when Hel-chan, Fenrir and Yamino joined them, "We had a lot of fun together! But I'm so glad you guys could join us now.

"Let's have ice cream together!"

She added as an afterthought, holding the coupon sheepishly up to the blonde god, "Loki-kun, I hope you don't mind if I use this on Spica-sama." She then turned to female companion and smiled.

Loki and his children stared at the two young women - one giantess that brought three lives in to the world and one mortal that became the world in their lives - baffled at the friendship that had blossomed, practically within twenty-four hours. Even more amazing was the tiny hint of a grin on Spica's face in response to Mayura, emotions never before witnessed even when she was gobbling up her favorite food, and as relieved as they were with the outcome, they were still floored by the sight.

Heimdall, with arms crossed, sighed, "Idiots."

* * *

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Hodur called out to the empty agency, and all this time, the poor god had been forgotten.

* * *

The great Mount Fuji area was a home to many gorgeous and spectacular _onsen_, but this particular hot spring would not be the location of the start of a new adventure, because Mayura and the gods - with the exception of Loki - couldn't afford to visit this place for a few day. This luxurious place was currently catering three certain goddesses of Asgard, who held domain over the timeline of the Nine Worlds, but in actuality, they just held important positions in the Goddess' Relief Office.

Urd, leaning back against the ledge, sipping a cup of _sake_ - finally making her appearance again (after so many chapters) - was the chief director of the Office, in charge of the overall operations and handling of public relations issues.

Verdandi, leaning over the side to read a book, was the senior chief of the Wish Division, overseeing all of the mortal wish contracts and delegating the less important ones to her staff while she dealt with the more crucial cases.

Then the youngest of the Norn sisters, Skuld, after immersing herself in to the hot water, rose to the surface again for air, assisted Urd with various tasks but was also a part-time journalist for _Asgard Daily_ newspaper - if she could really be called that because her job was mainly writing up 'stuff' for the horoscope section, that Odin was such a fan of.

"Urd-nee-san," Skuld whined, "what should we do about Ragnarok?"

"Would you relax first," the eldest sister sighed, "I didn't come all this way to Midgard to start talking about work."

"..."

* * *

* Jojo's Coffee House is based off a real place, _Jonathan's Coffee and Restaurant_ in Japan. Google their site, because the food looks delicious, and I used their menu, lol!

* * *

**Notes:** Holy crap, this chapter got super long, rofl! I had fun writing Mayura & Spica's food adventure, so sorry for the lack of MayuLoki in this chapter! I didn't want to go in too much stuff with Loki & Angrboda's history either - let's just say they're on friendly terms - and I've always imagine that Mayura and Spica would get along well, with or without Loki's involvement.

Poor Hodur, I always forget about him. *sweatdrops* I also wanted to show a bit of the other gods too.

Anyway, this is a good break from the series for me. I've dedicated like six weeks to this, lol, I'm sure people are upset with the lack of updates of other stories and series. There's actually one special chapter after this. It'll be summer intermission that I've been wanting to write ever since I started season two! *squeals excitedly* Anyway let me know what you think about this chapter, especially how I portrayed this version of Spica.

Oh my god! I just realized this story has over 100 reviews now! Lol! Thank you so much~! And this is the most I've written for any of my stories! That just shows you how much I adore MayuLoki! *hugs them to death* Heheh. -kuro.


	41. Chapter 41

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura. Chapters 41-43 are based on _Ranma 1/2_'s second movie, _Nihao My Concubine_, because I thought it would be hilarious to put Mayura and Loki and the group in the setting, lol.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Forty-One. Special - ****Unforgettable Summer, Battle for the Brides.**

One Friday afternoon, Mayura and Hel-chan were returning to the ever famous and popular detective agency of the neighborhood that had become a second home to the pink-haired mortal, both excited about the start of their one-month summer vacation. Hel-chan opened the front door and allowed her friend entrance first, as the girl slipped by, an envelope fluttered out of Mayura's school bag to the floor.

"Mayura-san," the goddess called, bending over to pick it up, and handed to the mortal, "This looks important."

"I have no idea," she shrugged, looking at the object in her hands, "Ah! That's right, Koutaro-kun gave this to me during lunch. I must've forgotten, haha."

Yamino entered the hallway from the kitchen and smiled, "Welcome home, Hel. Mayura-san." He, having heard the last bit of conversation between the girls, spotted the envelope being opened in Mayura's hand and inquired, "Is Kakinouchi-san collecting on the money he loaned you for the antique vase?"

Mayura sweatdropped, "Yamino-san, please don't bring up such sad memories."

'Jormungand!' Fenrir called, hopping down the stairs, 'Hurry up with the snacks! I'm hungry!' Seeing Mayura with a card in her hands now and having caught something about her classmate and the debt she owed, he wanted to know what was happening, not that he was a gossiping puppy, 'Is that vampire guy demanding daddy's girlfriend's hand in marriage to repay her debts?!'

Now the three of them sweatdropped at Fenrir's assumption, and just as Mayura unfolds the card, Narugami - having dropped by in between his part-time jobs for a quick snack, which was really two big meals - popped his head out of the kitchen, with a sandwich hanging from his mouth, not hindering him from speech, "Daidouji's too young to get married!"

More sweatdrops littered the hallway, as well as more people since Hodur came running out of the dining room, asking, "There's a wedding today?!"

Then he promptly tripped over Fenrir, who was in the way, not that he could tell, and Spica appeared right behind the fallen blind god, holding a sign: _'Loki's robbing the cradle huh?'_

An annoyed vein popped on Loki's head as he stood at the top of the stairs, glaring at the immortals gathered in his house, "Why don't all of you stop interrupting Mayura and let her read it."

Mayura, still sweatdropping, smiled nervously, "Th-Thank you, Loki-kun..." She turned attention to the card from Koutaro, reading the words carefully, and her face suddenly brightened, "Oh! It's an invitation to his new family yacht!"

* * *

"Ano..."

Mayura's expression was of confusion, days later on the Kakinouchi family yacht, standing next to a twitching Koutaro, as they watched the strange scene before them. Somehow all of Mayura's (immortal) acquaintances were on his yacht having a good time like they had been invited, but he had only sent the invitation to his classmate and crush, so how in the world did this weekend getaway date get so screwed up?!

Loki, appearing behind Mayura, wrapped his arms around her bare shoulders, since she was wearing a purple two-piece swimsuit with a floral-print sarong, and rested his chin on top of her head, grinning stiffly, "It was kind of you to send an invitation, Kou-boy."

There was a strange tenseness in his voice as he spoke that only Mayura recognized and sweatdropped to, because the god was doing his best not to let his motion sickness get the best of him, even after taking some medication for it. Mayura had insisted that he didn't need to come along, but what guy - in this case, god - in their right mind would let his mortal girl go off on a weekend trip with some other male?!

Of course Loki trusted her, the girl who was clueless about the ever growing attention from the males around her, but he did not trust Koutaro nor Freyr to keep their hands to themselves. Oh, the things he did for his beloved mortal, unofficial girlfriend, not that he even realized how much he had done for her and sacrificed for her, because he was just as oblivious with his own feelings as his female counterpart, who at least admitted to having affections for him.

Koutaro's left eye twitched at the childish nickname, not sure how that even came about, but Mayura was glad that Loki had stop calling her classmate 'lover boy,' which she figured came from the young man's popularity with their female classmates - bless her naiveté. The mortal boy wanted to correct him and slap that offensive hand from his classmate's person, but his vision was filled with a meek Hel-chan, in a rosy one-piece bathing suit with a navy hoodie over it.

"Thank you, Kakinouchi-san," she expressed her gratefulness with a shy smile and bow, "I've... never been on a yacht before."

Spica, wearing a yellow, ruffled bathing suit beneath her evergreen dress, was off to the side stuffing her face with food, held up a sign: _'Thanks for the invite.'_

"Ah, it's my pleasure," he laughed, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

In a fitted white dress over a blue, two-piece swimsuit, Freya walked by, adjusting the wide-brim, straw hat on her head, adding in her thanks too, "It's quite nice, but I've been on bigger and more luxurious ones."

And Koutaro's left eye twitched again, wondering why she bothered to come with them then, though he couldn't be rude to his guests and kicked them off, in the middle of the sea, as pleasant as that thought was. That would be too suspicious if a lot of people suddenly went missing upon his return to shore, so all he could really do was just go with the flow - hadn't he always done that when it came to Mayura and her strange group of friends?

The blonde goddess latched on to Loki's arm, suddenly pulling him away from a sweatdropping Mayura, who could see how lively the god had become with Freya, never mind that he was actually attempting to fend off the goddess from his person. The pink-haired girl pouted and turned away, marching over to the side to join Hel-chan in admiration of the scenery of the open seas. The cool breeze wafted through their hair as they shared some quiet conversations, along with giggles and smiles, Mayura forgetting her troublesome feelings, while the rest of the crew were scattered about the yacht.

Spica, at the table of food, still eating along side Narugami, Fenrir and Gullinbursti, in some sort of unofficial eating competition between the four gluttons, though it was more like who could be the first to puke from overeating upon the ever moving water transportation.

Yamino sweatdropped from watching them, bits of food all over their faces and flying in to the air, and wished there was something for him to do because he was not used to just relaxing, when he always took care of the house and everyone. It was a heavily ingrained habit that he couldn't break and ran over to Koutaro, "Kakinouchi-san! Is there any cleaning you need done?!"

Koutaro sweatdropped while Fenrir noisily barked with his mouth full, 'This is a vacation!'

Narugami laughed and threw the wooden sword towards Yamino, who clumsily caught it, "If you're that desperate, you can polish up Mjollnir."

Yamino glared darkly towards the god of thunder and hissed, slamming the blade of Mjollnir on the table surface, causing the brunette to sweatdrop and whisper to his eating companions, "Megane's true form is coming out."

No one was even paying attention, since Spica was in her own little world of food and Fenrir was busy fighting Gullinbursti over the last _gyoza_. And somewhere in the background, Hodur was happily fishing, even in his usual dark attire that was out of place among the beach wear - not that Loki's dress shirt and pants were great for the outing either, but he couldn't imagine himself wearing the cargo shorts and t-shirt like Narugami.

Mentioning Freyr would cause a brain spasm with his overly embellished, short-sleeve button-up shirt with dark slacks, and he still managed to attach his flowy, dramatic cape to the ensemble! It was because of the idiot that Heimdall, being the other normally dressed one since he was still in child form, found himself among the group of immortals, glaring at his companion, with his faithful Gjallar perched on his right shoulder.

He growled, "Why did you drag me on this trip?!"

"Heimdall is Freyr's wingman!" he stated the obvious, only to receive a darker glare that he didn't notice, "Freyr needs the support to pursue Yamato Nadeshiko!"

Heimdall tried not to slap his forehead, knowing well that the mortal girl was already taken by his rival, but seeing Freyr so hopeful that it was almost sickening, he wasn't that cruel to hurt his friend's feelings. Then again, if he did help Freyr out, he could relish the defeated and embarrassed look on Loki's face when Mayura had been seduced by another man. He glanced at an eager Freyr hiding behind the cooler, ogling the mortal in the distance, and he sighed, not able to believe that he had just imagined Freyr seducing Mayura, or any female for that matter.

"All right," the small god had given in, "I'll distract Hel, or something."

So Freyr waited until his best friend, and wingman, in the whole Nine Worlds made his way over to the girls and asked to speak to the goddess of the Underworld. Mayura smiled, waving them off, and leaned against the side, resting her elbows on the railing. When she was completely alone, Freyr made his move, confidently striding over to the solitary girl... only to have Koutaro suddenly appear out of nowhere and start talking to her, killing the god's chance.

About to freak out over the matter, Freyr saw something even worse from the corner of his eye, catching a certain blonde god in the act of manhandling his beloved, younger sister, which was really Loki trying to break away from a clingy Freya's hold, from a non-crazy Freyr perception.

Torn between the love of his life and his precious sister, he couldn't decided who to save, but Loki was the more villainous one. He charged ahead, shouting, "Freyr will save you, Freyr's beloved sister!"

Everyone turned their heads towards a determined Freyr running straight to a baffled and rather pale Loki prying Freya's hands from him, with the intention of saving her from Loki's treacherous advances, and it was just in time that Loki jumped back from a confused Freya, who was suddenly tackled to the ground by her own brother. The siblings tumbled and rolled straight off the deck, down the stairs, and crashed in to who knew what below...

All was silent above deck, so quiet that the breeze could be heard laughing at the silliness of it all, which was soon followed by a loud explosion from below the deck that freaked everyone out, mainly Koutaro since it was his family's yacht.

* * *

Half an hour later, Koutaro returned from assessing the damage from the engine room, still in disbelief that two bumbling fools had destroyed such an expensive thing, which left the little boat adrift at sea. He rubbed the side of his head, trying to push the oncoming headache away, but at this point in time, he believed it couldn't get any worse - sometimes it was great to just be ignorant of the things around him.

"Well, I've radio for help," he explained to his unwanted guests, "But I don't know when the coast guard will get to us. There seems to be a storm coming in."

"We have no choice," Loki sighed, laying on a bench with his head resting in Mayura's lap, and opened his eyes to glare at the siblings that caused the mess, who were looking very pitiful as they knelt, in _seiza_ style on the deck, with their heads hanging apologetically low, very sorry for their childish actions. He frowned, prodding them for more, "Well?"

"Freyr/We promise to behave for the rest of the trip!" they bowed, their heads bumping the deck in sincerity.

"It can't be helped!" Mayura tried to lighten the mood, her hand stroking Loki's head to make him feel better from the ill feeling that finally kicked in after the medication wore off, "Why don't we just enjoy the rest of the trip as it is, until help comes."

* * *

Hodur, still oblivious of it all, was still fishing in the background, having yet to catch anything, and the explosion from earlier probably didn't help him either.

Mayura's cheerful encouragement brought up their spirits as most returned to what they were doing earlier, though that still left the ashamed siblings in the corner for time out, deemed by Loki, to which Mayura sweatdropped too, thinking it was a tad immature, but he insisted since they were behaving like kids anyway. He adjusted himself, flat on his back, as he gazed up to her, a sly look upon his face, and reached up to her cheek to give it a pinch, "Are you wanting to be punished too?"

She blushed, glaring at him, as he pushed it further, "Hm, for a naughty student, I think a span-"

She covered his mouth with both of her hands, "Mou Loki-kun is impossible!"

"Oi!" Narugami called, "Some of us are eating!"

Spica's sign: _'Do carry on.'_

"..."

* * *

Heimdall was at the front of the yacht, staring in to the distance, while Gjallar was now flying in the skies, circling above them. His eye was glued to the horizon, as if he could see something that far ahead of them, but his concentration was broken by Hel-chan's presence, next to him, inquiring, "Is there something wrong, Heimdall-sama?"

When Gjallar returned to Heimdall's shoulder, the god spoke, pointing ahead, "I saw some mysterious islands in the distance."

"Mysterious?!" came Mayura's high-pitched voice, and she popped up behind them having heard the magical word. The pair sweatdropped as she leaned over to the side, holding a hand over her eyes to block out the sun, trying to see these mysterious islands, "Mou, I don't see anything."

Hel-chan explained, holding her index finger pointedly in front of her, "Heimdall-sama has the sharpest eyesight of all the gods, able to see the smallest of things for hundreds of miles."

The praise caused the said god to blush, but Loki interjected a snide remark, "Even with his one eye."

Heimdall's face flushed red as he glared at the blonde god, who was pulling Mayura back from the ledge with one arm wrapped around her waist and bopping her head lightly with the other. A slightly better Loki sighed, holding her close to him, her back pressed against his chest, "Mayura, you need to be more aware of your own safety."

She pouted, "But they're mysterious islands!"

"And?"

"And we should investigate them!"

Gjallar squawked at them, but no one could speak falcon language, except for Heimdall, who translated, "The ocean current is taking us straight to one of the islands."

"Eh! So we will get to explore it?!" Mayura practically jumped out of Loki's arms in excitement.

"If there's land," Yamino sounded thoughtful, "then there are people...?"

"And if there are people," Narugami joined the fray, slamming a hand on to the table, shaking the poor furniture.

"There's gotta be food!" Fenrir, with Narugami, shouted gleefully.

Spica, munching on a slice of watermelon, threw her sign up: _'Food!'_

Even Gullinbursti was excited, and everyone else sweatdropped at the quartet's enthusiasm over food.

"We're going pretty slowly," Koutaro informed them, "At this rate, either the coast guard or storm will get to us before we even reach the islands."

Mayura seemed put out by the news and sulked, but Loki was grinning, glancing to the other gods, who noticed his mischievous grin and realized that the trickster god was up to something, and when he was plotting, it was never good. He turned to his middle child, "Yamino, why don't you go with Kou-boy to the engine room and see if there's anything you can do down there."

"I don't see what we can do," the mortal sighed, "We're not experts."

Yamino, having understood what his father wanted him to do, sweatdropped and insisted, "I have some experience with machines..." He wasn't quite lying about the fact, because the lawn mower, the vacuum cleaner, the garbage disposal, the nail gun, the chainsaw were all minor machines that he had to be familiar with and operated. With little reassurance for the blonde, Yamino insisted that they take a look anyway, so they disappeared below deck.

Within five minutes, only the solo form of the infamous serpent of Midgard returned to them, and he informed the gods that Koutaro was now taking a nice nap downstairs. Loki's grin grew as he told them, "Let's get to land while there's still daylight."

So with that said, the many gods used their magic to push the yacht towards the mysterious islands, and in no time, they were speeding insanely at the sight of the shoreline. It was much too fast, and they wouldn't be able to slow down in time, but this was the consequence for having ten immortals - more specifically, seven gods including Hel-chan since she was promoted by Odin and two demi-gods and one giant - use their powers on one tiny boat.

The bow of the yacht crashed hard on to the shore, the sudden force snapped the ropes and the mast broke in half, sending it flying ahead in to the sand, while everyone on deck was tossed around before they could brace for the impact. Mayura flew forward, but Loki was able to grab her arm and pull her in to him before both went hitting the deck. He twisted them around so he landed first, on his back, and she, on top of him.

Yamino had flattened Fenrir and Gullinbursti, then Spica's butt landed square on her second son's back, while she was still chewing on a roast duck, not worried about the trouble around her, and even Heimdall didn't fare too well when he embarrassingly fell face first in to a blushing Hel-chan's chest.

The rest of the crew were thrown overboard, Narugami and Hodur landed in the shallow waters, but the latter sprung to his feet immediately and amazingly caught a shrieking Freya in his arms. The goddess thanked her great luck, but when the blind god took one step forward, he tripped over something in the watery sands and went down, taking the blonde with him - so much for that luck.

Bad luck did run in the family, because poor Freyr had landed face first in to the sand.

While everyone slowly gathered themselves together, Koutaro, having awoken from the crash, finally climbed up from below deck, "What's going on?"

Still a bit disoriented, but not enough to drop his jaw upon seeing the once distant land before his eyes, "Ho-How did we...?"

Speechless, not able to find a reasonable answer for arriving on land, he sought an explanation from anyone, eyeing each person, carefully, on board the yacht, even though half were already overboard.

"It's a blessing from the gods!" Mayura had blurted out, grabbing Koutaro's attention, while a mixture of reaction flittered among the gods, from knowing smiles, quiet giggles and tiresome sighs.

* * *

A bit later, the group were now safely on shore, getting what they could salvage from the wrecked yacht, while the Kakinouchi heir stood next to the family's beloved treasure in ruins, never again to be taken out to seas. Thank god there was insurance on it, but would he claim this on paper as a natural disaster? It wasn't like he knew gods existed, and even so, there was probably no clause about gods in the policy, but one could equate gods as the natural disasters themselves!

Everyone left Koutaro to salvage his boat or mope over his tragedy, since other things like survival was more important. Yamino had taken charge of organizing their remaining supplies on the beach, with Hel-chan and Heimdall's assistance, while Fenrir whined he was getting hungry again, since Spica ate most of the food onboard.

Yamino sweatdropped and asked his sister, "Hel, could you and Heimdall-san finish setting camp up. I'll put something together for everyone. I'm sure we're all hungry by now."

They nodded and took over the task, while in the background, Narugami was climbing to the top of a tree and using Mjollnir to whack a coconut above him. It snapped from the tree and came falling down to Spica on the ground, who nimbly caught it within her hands, and she immediately cracked one open and began to drink the juice.

* * *

Standing on the edge of the shoreline, where the sea water rose to his feet, Hodur returned to his peaceful fishing.

Just a few feet behind him and to the right, a distance from the makeshift camp, Freya, now in her swimsuit, was getting the best usage out of their stranded on a deserted island scenario by sunbathing, while Freyr recovered from being thrown overboard. He stood on the sandy beach with Gullinbursti at his side, as his eyes searched the area for his missing pink-haired Yamato Nadeshiko.

Everyone was accounted for except for Mayura and... Loki, and the moment he realized this, he went ballistic and screamed, his frustrated cry echoed across the mysterious island.

* * *

Flocks of birds were sent in to flight from the canopy of leaves and branches overhead, and Mayura glanced upwards, peeking through to the blue skies, having heard the mysterious cry.

"What was that?" she gasped, excited to be exploring unknown territory like the adventure she had always dreamed of, but she could do with a more enthusiastic company, after glancing back at an annoyed Loki, who had unbuttoned his pristine dress shirt down a few buttons and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows because of the sweltering heat of the jungle. For being a god of fire, he was getting easily irritated by the hot temperature, or maybe it was the pesky mosquito that wanted his godly blood.

She sighed and sprinted ahead, not letting Loki's mood to ruin her excitement of finding mysteries on the mysterious island.

"Mayura!" he called, "Don't wander off! Not out of my sight!"

She stopped and tried to move, but her sarong had caught on a shrubbery. She tugged it off, but the fabric ripped, and shouted back to Loki, "Stop treating me like a child!"

"I can't help it if you just charge ahead without any care," he caught up to her, pushing a branch out of his way, frowning, "Someone has to look after for you."

Mayura, her turn to be greatly annoyed by his words, spun around and ran off in to the unknown just to spite him, while Loki, his bad habit of saying the wrong things when he didn't mean it that way, mentally scolded himself and hurried after her before he completely lost her - literally and figuratively.

* * *

Back at the campsite, Gjallar was flying overhead, and nothing was out of the ordinary except for maybe a tearful Freyr, mumbling about his precious Yamato Nadeshiko being seducing by the evil Loki, and everyone trying to ignore him. Heimdall, counted silently to himself, though the popping vein on his forehead was evident of his dwindling impatience, as he worked at one side near Hel-chan, who was behind him, shuffling a few things around.

A sudden feeling of dread crept down her spine when she stopped and looked around. She heard something shifting in the sand, but by the time she pinpointed the location, green eyes widened at the patch of darkness rushing at her.

Heimdall paused when he heard Hel-chan gasp, and he turned around to find her... not there, but a giant peach instead.

He whipped his head from side to side, searching for her in the vicinity, but there was no sign of her at all when she had just been right behind him. Poofing out of thin air wouldn't be so unnatural for a goddess, but she wasn't the type to leave without a word, especially when her family and friends were nearby.

He picked up the ominous peach, wondering what had happened and what was going to happen, but this definitely not normal at all, and he had to inform the others.

* * *

Freya was laying on the beach with her sunglasses over her eyes, sighing happily at he warm sun and the peace and quiet, even though she could hear the soft sobs of her brother in the distance, and tried not to let it bother her. She was in such a good mood to let anything come between her and the bliss of paradise, but the feeling of trouble wasn't too far away. The uneasiness pricked at her skin, and she shuddered, a coolness heightening her sense.

She felt a strange shadow looming over her and opened her eyes, gasping, "Hodur!"

The quiet god stared down at her, without really seeing her because he was forever blind, but he had felt the tension in the air and had to get to the goddess' side. Freya sat up, taking off her sunglasses, frowning a bit, "You startled me! And you're blocking my-"

Hodur quickly grabbed her arms and yanked her to her feet, her weight against him caused him to stagger backwards and fall back in to the sand, just as a dark patch zoomed across the terrain, having missed its target.

Freya pushed herself off Hodur angrily, shouting at him for indecency, and smacked his head, not realizing that he had just saved her ungrateful behind, yet again!

* * *

Mayura had been running for a few seconds, when she finally stopped and looked around, wondering where she was now. She felt guilty for leaving Loki behind, but he had made her upset. It was bad enough that she was a mortal, but having to be seventeen years old in comparison to his centuries of existence just reminded her of the different worlds they lived in.

She sighed, knowing that she shouldn't be getting angry so easily since he was so clumsy with words, and smiled at how cute it was sometimes, though she couldn't keep doing this, running away every time there was disagreement between them. It was childish of her to do so too, and he wasn't the only one to be blamed.

Another sigh left her lips, as she plucked a leaf from its branch, because she had to throw away her pride, turn back and apologize to him, and just as she was about to do so, she froze in her spot, that strange feeling of being watched and followed lingered in the distance.

After all that she had been through, Mayura had finally learned to run at the slight feeling of danger, heading back in the direction she had come from... probably? Well the jungle was very dense with vegetation, so she prayed that Loki was still nearby. Even with her disoriented sense of direction, there was no way she would ever be lost from Loki, because of their special bond and the psychic link he had to her.

As if her prayers had been answered, he appeared right in front of her, surprise written all over his face, but being a clumsy girl, she tripped over an overgrown root protruding from the dirt and stumbled in to his arms.

He had felt her distress and rushed to her as quickly as possible, relieved that she was all right, a bit shaken up by something but unharmed. Having caught from the fall, he quickly lifted her in to his embrace and hugged her possessively, as she muffled out, "I'm sorry, Loki-kun!"

She returned his embrace with equal fervor, enjoying his loving warmth, despite the heat of their environment, and he placed a gentle kiss on top of her head that all was forgiven. The best thing after a little argument was the making up and make out sessions - definitely preferring a little more than a hug - especially when they were now alone, but he could be patient and look forward to many more in the future.

* * *

Narugami, newly dubbed the monkey god of thunder, since he was now climbing his fourth tree for more coconuts, not that he minded, but when a maiden requested a hero god of his status for aid, he couldn't deny her, even if it was the giantess of Jotunheim and Loki's ex. He smacked Mjollnir at the batch of coconuts and watched them fall to the ground, landing right in to Spica's outstretched skirt as she held it out to catch the large seeds.

He sweatdropped at the sight of at least ten coconuts scattered around the young woman and shouted down to her, "I think that's enough!"

He was prepared to climb down when he spotted a strange shadow moving on the ground, heading for Spica. It was flying through the sand quickly, the distance closing in on the oblivious female of eminent danger.

"Spica! Watch out!"

His warning had alarmed the nearby camp, as he propelled himself from the tree, jumping straight down to her with Mjollnir gripped in his hands, held over his head. He shot right behind a curious Spica, who followed him with her eyes, aiming for his agile target zigzagging through the sand. The wooden blade slammed on to the earth, but he had missed, the shadow zipped by him in a flash and reappeared beneath Spica's feet.

She looked down, expression still blank, as the solidity of the ground under her feet disappeared, and the reality of her impeding fall hit Narugami. In a panic, he launched himself in her direction, his right hand gripped Mjollnir while his left hand reached for her, but it was too late when his fingers grabbed the air, the last bit of her purple hair falling out of his view. He landed right next to the shadow and attempted to grasp the intangible object, but after taking Spica, the black patch spitted out a giant peach before disappearing as if it never existed.

He sweatdropped and thought that Spica would probably eat this peach if she was there. He grabbed the peach and stood up, dusting himself off, just as Yamino, Heimdall and Fenrir reached him, after the one-eyed god had retold the tale of the missing Hel-chan.

'Where's mom?!' Fenrir barked.

"She disappeared," Narugami said, holding out a peach, "I don't know what's going on, but something isn't right about this place."

Heimdall held out his peach too, "Hel's gone too."

"Damn," he muttered, "We have to get the others."

The group hurried back to camp, and much to everyone's relief, Freya, Hodur and Koutaro had joined the sulky Freyr, which left Loki and Mayura unaccounted for... briefly, because they were just emerging from the woods. Mayura immediately noticed the two missing people from their band of misfits, "Eh! Where's Hel-chan and Spica-sama?!"

"Yamato Nadeshiko!" Freyr cried, smiling happily, holding his arms out to welcome her back, "You're safe!"

She hurried past him, not meaning to ignore him, but her question was begging to be answered, and Loki didn't look happy either that two important people from his family were missing.

"They've disappeared," Heimdall informed her, as everyone gathered around in to a circle to discuss the situation. He placed his peach in to the center, along with Narugami's peach.

Mayura picked up the two fruits, larger than the average peach, and examined them and then bursted in to tears, hugging them, "Hel-chan! Spica-sama!"

The others sweatdropped at the mortal's belief that the girls were turned in to peaches, and Fenrir sniffed the fruits and shook his head, 'It's not them. They weren't turned into fruit.'

"Oh," she furrowed her brows in concentration, "If they're not peaches, then... they were kidnapped!"

"Wait," Koutaro spoke up, completely confused, "We haven't seen anyone else on this island, so how can they just be taken from right under our noses? I mean, just look at this place," he made a wide gesture up and down the length of the beach, indicating that they could spot anyone within a mile radius approaching them, "I just don't see how this could happen."

"Well, what I saw was strange," Narugami started, propping Mjollnir up in the sands, "I saw this weird, black shadow on the ground, heading straight for Spica. It was faster than I thought, and I don't think any ordinary attack could hurt it. Right after Spica disappear in to the hole, the peach popped up, and the shadow was gone."

"I'm pretty sure the same thing happened to Hel," Heimdall added, "Only the peach was in her place, but I didn't see any shadow."

Fenrir started barking at the group, which made Koutaro, being the only one not able to understand him, look at the puppy in confusion, 'I couldn't pick up on their scents either. It ends right where they disappeared.'

"Well," the quiet Hodur hesitantly spoke, "earlier, I felt a weird energy near Freya-sama..."

The goddess arched her brows, "You did? Oh, that explains why you did that! I guess I should thank you for saving me."

Hodur blushed and shrunk back in his seat, sighing, wishing he was able to save his best friend, Hel-chan.

"Eh, so Freya-sama was almost kidnapped too?!" Mayura looked at her with concern, "This is so mysterious! This island with no one on it, yet people are disappearing one by one!"

"It's not just anyone being kidnapped," Yamino adjusted his glasses, having noticed a pattern.

Loki rubbed his chin, grinning at the same conclusion that his son had picked up on, "That's right. It seems our invisible enemies are abducting the women." They all gave him the bewildered expressions, excluding Yamino, and he explained, "Well, they've taken Hel and Spica and attempted to take Freya, and Mayura," he looked at her, "didn't you say you felt something watching you?"

She nodded, shifting closer to his side, and he continued, "Yet none of the males were targeted, correct?"

Heimdall nodded, "That's a good point. We were just as unguarded as the girls."

"This..." Koutaro held his head in his hands, shaking in disbelief, "is hard to follow. Is this island haunted? With ghosts?! Or demons?"

"It's possible!" Mayura shouted, "But I can't forgive those ghosts who've taken my friends! We have to do something! Loki-kun! We have to attack!" She was pumped up for an offensive plan but just didn't know how to go about it, and if the situation wasn't so important, Loki would've found her energetic self very cute and endearing.

"Let's think this through first," the god leaned forward to the group, letting them know what their next move should be, "We don't know who the enemy is and why they are abducting females, so our main goal is to get them in to the open." He paused, grinning, "So to lure them out, we need a bait."

"Bait?" Mayura repeated innocently, not quite sure she fully understood Loki's process to the plan, but the others knew, since the bad guys were after girls, and they currently only had two left, between the mortal girl and a blonde goddess. All eyes were still on Mayura, who was still blinking at them cluelessly, until Loki got in front of the girl, blocking their view with a glare.

"Don't even think about it," he warned darkly.

"O-Of course not, Loki-sama," Yamino sweatdropped, not meaning to give his father the idea that they would even consider putting a defenseless Mayura as the main attraction. The girl was enough trouble at home, they didn't need it to happen away from home either, especially against unknown, powerful forces.

The blonde god turned to the only goddess left, "Freya, you're the best candidate..."

"Loki!" she whined, "You're throwing me to the wolves instead of her?! How could you!"

"Freyr disagree too!" Her brother was against it too, but it was difficult to choose between his Yamato Nadeshiko and his sister, "But Freya, forgive Freyr! Yamato Nadeshiko is important!" He cried and hugged his sister.

"Freya," Loki started, sweatdropping, "I was certain you could handle it. With your skills and beauty, I have faith that you would be the better one for the job."

His words seemed to have a great effect on Freya, like he had expected to, unfortunately, and even Mayura could see this needed to be done, but she didn't understand why he just couldn't let her be the bait that he needed for the plan. She wanted to save Hel-chan and Spica too, so she would do anything for that goal.

"You can probably charm them with just a smile," Heimdall added, just in case she needed more convincing, but it was, nonetheless, true.

"Ohoho~!" Freya stood up, laughing proudly, "Of course I would be the best candidate! I am a goddess after all! Hoho~!"

Everyone sweatdropped at the goddess' change in demeanor, and Koutaro, wearing a flat expression, commented, "She thinks rather highly of herself."

"Eheh, you don't know the half of it," Narugami laughed nervously.

* * *

**Notes:** I had too much fun with them, though it was challenging to write everyone together. Please enjoy the rest! -kuro.


	42. Chapter 42

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Forty-Two. Special - ****Unforgettable Summer, Battle for the Brides.**

"Grrrr, curse you guys!"

Freya's screaming was really give them all a headache, but that was the typical reaction of a woman being tied up to a wooden post in the middle of an empty field while her friends were all hiding behind the bushes, keeping a lookout for their enemies. They had split in to two different groups, where Heimdall led one with Freyr, Gullinbursti, Hodur and Koutaro, positioned in the north, and Loki's group was too the east, so they would have a good view of the open space - even Gjallar was posted in a nearby tree upon his master's orders.

"Did we really have to tie her like that?" Mayura sweatdropped, huddled close to Loki, who had his arm wrapped around her crouching form. He did make this plan for them, but he had a bad feeling in his gut that he couldn't shake away, and he usually felt this way when it involved Mayura, so he couldn't let her out of his sight, no matter what.

Knowing that the others had a good eye on Freya and the goddess, herself, could handle most things, he could focus on protecting Mayura.

'We should've gagged her while we were at!' Fenrir sighed, his head on the ground with paws over his ears, in agony over the goddess' loud, banshee-like scream, 'Who wants a noisy sacrifice anyway!'

"Nii-sama, that's not nice."

The puppy started to laugh, 'It's ironic... that we're sacrificing a goddess, haha!'

"Aha, that's pretty funny!" Narugami was chuckling too, "I bet they're not picky at all."

"Shh, I think I heard something," Loki hushed them, listening carefully, as his green eyes scanned the area, "Do you see anything?"

"No, nothing, Loki-sama."

Yamino peered in to the distance, seeing the earth appearing undisturbed, but what they should have paid attention to was the area behind them, where the shadow had suddenly appeared, speeding towards Mayura. Gjallar's warning squawk blared over them, and Loki's hand gripped Mayura's shoulder, and he pulled her against him, twisting them both to the side, as the shadow rushed by them.

Narugami was the next to react, swinging Mjollnir at the shadow, but missed, smashing in to the sand instead. The shadow made a turn back towards Loki and Mayura, but the god scooped her in to his arms and jumped out of the way.

Heimdall's group shot out from their hiding place, about to chase after the shadow, when Freya's screamed for them, another dark spot appeared, charging for the goddess. Heimdall and Freyr changed directions, going to assist the bound up goddess, since she was their priority, but Hodur tripped and fell, trying to follow them. While they tried to attack the sand, Koutaro snuck up behind Freya and quickly untied her, but no one was able to get a good hit on their slippery opponents.

They couldn't get a strike in like this, against beings they couldn't even touch or see, and at the speed they were moving, it was impossible for a direct attack. They would have to take the indirect route, and if the sand was their only connection, then Loki would use it. He shouted to everyone, "ATTACK THE SAND!"

Heimdall clenched his teeth and jabbed his hand in to the sand, summoning his dark powers in to the earth. The ground shook and rumbled loudly, and suddenly a burst of dark energy streaked towards the shadow and exploded from underneath them, blasting sand all over the place, and out from the heap, a strange monkey-like man leapt out of the sand. He flipped backwards in to a tree and perched on the branch, grinning, "He~h, you guys know magic?"

"Eh, a talking monkey?" Koutaro sweatdropped.

A vein appeared on Sarutoru's head, "Who are you calling a monk-"

"Wow!" Mayura was ecstatic, "I bet Mister Monkey knows all sorts of tricks!"

"..."

Narugami took care of the other shadow, stabbing the earth with Mjollnir, and called forth his lightning to blast a dog-like man from the black patch. He landed on the ground on all fours and ran around Narugami once before charging head first at him, but it was Fenrir that head butt in to his side like a shooting bullet, knocking the half-beast back to the sand, but he immediately got up and regrouped with his partner.

A third shadow appeared, and a bird-like man jumped out from it, and everyone sweatdropped at the array of weirdoes, not what they were expecting in terms of formidable foes. This was way too much for Koutaro to take, and he unexpectedly laughed, like someone who had reached his limit, "Aha, this must be a dream! I'm probably still at home... dreaming all this up... This crazy, weird island... with all these freaks...!"

Then out of the skies, a giant image of a peach appeared, light radiating around it, but it was no mirage, it really was the fruit itself, drifting down towards ground, where the spectators gathered as if it was the most awesomest thing anyone ever witnessed, but no one was impressed, because they were gods, except for Koutaro and Mayura. What was even more amazing was the peach splitting apart to reveal a boy in fancy tribal garb with a sword attached, horizontally, to the back of his waist and a gourd hanging at his side, and he held another peach in his hands.

"Oh my god! Aliens DO exist!" blurted out a very enthusiastic Mayura, jumping out of a sweatdropping Loki's arms.

"Eh! Really?!" Hodur got just as excited, looking about.

"Yeah, this has to be a dream! Totally a dream!" Koutaro, having snapped in to psychotic laughter, kept insisting to himself, but Freya was so tired of listening to him, and even though he did untie her, she smacked him anyway with her magical frying pan, knocking out the noisy, mortal boy unconscious.

"Dream that then!" the goddess sighed.

The enemy's apparent leader was the youthful boy, who radiated a mysterious power beneath his apparent maturity, floating towards the group, as the peach he emerged from faded from view. He had a regal, arrogant air about him that irritated the gods, who wanted to wipe off the prissy smirk off his face and give a black eye or two, because he had no idea who he was really dealing with.

Nargugami threw Mjollnir over his shoulder, "What's up with this light show?"

'Says Flashy Pants,' Fenrir snarked.

The peach vanished in to thin air as the boy introduced himself, "I am Touma, Prince of Illusions and ruler of Togenkyo!"

Narugami glanced towards his companions, "Togenkyo? Have you guys heard of it?"

"Freyr doesn't know."

"It must be their home planet!" Mayura chipped in.

'Is it food?' Fenrir asked hastily, and even Gullinbursti seemed to have lit up at the mention of food.

Hodur mumbled, "It sounds like a spa resort..."

Touma and his minions sweatdropped, while half the group discussed this mysterious Togenkyo, the rest of the immortals didn't care at all with either of his narcissistic attitude or self-proclaimed title of some place they had never heard of, still glaring at him and his posse of kidnappers, and Heimdall, after he mumbled 'idiots,' stepped forward to the so-called prince, "You're the ones that kidnapped our friends."

"Kidnapped?" the bird-man scoffed, "Don't insult us!"

"Even if you're aliens," Mayura shouted at them, "I won't give you special treatment!"

Everyone sweatdropped, but she continued, "I can't forgive you for taking Hel-chan and Spica-sama! We want them back!"

"Give back Hel-chan!" Hodur wailed, collapsing to the sand on his knees, crying in to his arms, "Give back my best friend!"

"That's enough!" Touma frowned, ordering them to all shut up, "The remaining women will come with me!"

Immediately after that declaration, all the gods, being oh so over protective, moved in front of Mayura and Freya, glaring at their enemies darkly, while a very pissed off goddess crossed her arms over her abdomen, shouting at the prince, "You cheeky, little brat, how dare you address me in that tone! I'll have you know not even the-"

Narugami, cutting Freya off, pointed Mjollnir at the group, "If you're looking for a fight, I'll give it to you! But you're not laying a hand on them!"

'Flashy Pants!' Fenrir barked, 'Don't hog all the glory!'

"Nii-san, that's not important..."

"Freyr won't let a kid take Freya and Yamato Nadeshiko!"

The monkey lackey jumped down from the tree and dropped a lobster to the ground - never mind he pulled the thing out of thin air, or painfully from his pants - while Touma stepped up to it, taking the gourd from his side and uncapping it. He powered some mysterious liquid over the poor lobster, turning the sea creature in to a fully grown hybrid of a man, and the freaking out was commenced by various members of Loki's group. The calmer ones of Loki, Heimdall, Yamino and Hodur, who had no idea what was going on because he couldn't see, sweatdropped.

"Oh my god!" Mayura cried, "It turned in to a person!"

"I've seen worse," Loki deadpanned, and the other gods nodded in agreement.

'Oi, is that supposed to scare us?!' Fenrir growled, but none of the enemies could understand him, so he was ignored.

Touma, kind of pissed that he wasn't doing a good job of scaring these people, shouted, "If you don't come quietly with us to my bridal competition, then I'll just dump this water on you and no man will ever be interested in you again!"

"Are you threatening me?!" Freya narrowed her eyes at the royal brat.

'With that personality,' the puppy murmured, 'no one's interested in her.'

The blonde goddess whipped her head towards Fenrir, as if she had heard him, eyeing him carefully, and he scurried over to his father's side just in case she wanted to exact revenge on his true statement, while everyone puzzled over the mentioning of a bridal competition. The absurdity of it all had infuriated Freyr, who obviously would forbid his sister and his Yamato Nadeshiko to participate in such things.

"Touma-kun!" Mayura called, "If we go with you, will you let our friends go?"

Everyone was shocked by her words, but leave it to the mortal girl to put her friends' safety before her own, but Touma appeared satisfied by her answer, "Then you're willing?" He moved towards her, a hand offered out to her, but Loki refused to let her go, standing in front of her protectively, daring the prince to take in for what was his, though unofficially.

Heimdall snorted, "I wouldn't trust him, nee-chan."

Narugami lifted Mjollnir up, "If you won't return our friends..."

"Freyr will convince you!"

Leave it to the easily excitable Narugami and Freyr to charge head on in to battle without another thought for the consequences nor the rest of their companions watching them. They really should've at least assessed the abilities their enemies had first, like the sudden invisible shockwave blasted at the group from Touma's left hand, catching them off guard. He drew the mysterious blade from its scabbard and held it up high in to the air, summoning a blinding light and distracting them further with the tremors of the earth and the flames bursting from the grounds.

His minions jumped in to the fray, smacking them aside till they forced their way towards the remaining females of the group. Touma was quicker, able to reach Mayura within seconds, and was brave to snatch Mayura's arm and dragged her from Loki's side.

"Loki-kun!" she cried, reaching out her hand to him.

The god, knocked off balance from the quake, swung his hand for her but missed her by centimeters, "Mayura!"

The rocks and dirt exploded from the ground in front of him, blocking his way, and the flames flared up and engulfed him, along with the others. Their dangerous surroundings had them trapped and all he could do was watch the bratty prince throw her over his shoulder like a sack of rice that the girl didn't appreciate, while his pack of animal hybrids took care of a feisty Freya, requiring both the monkey-man and dog-man to pin her set of flailing arms and legs in place before taking off in to the air.

"Unhand me you filthy creatures!" the goddess demanded, "When I get my chain-"

"Will someone shut her up!" their prince groaned as they gathered around him in small spheres, and the group retreated back to their island base of darkness and foreboding things to come, that eventually floated along side many others from the ominous thick fog. This would have been a mystery, but Loki could track down Mayura without a problem, but how to get there was another issue. Not everyone could just fly over there or teleport, as magical and all powerful they seemed to be.

Speaking of powers, how shameful that a group of gods was defeated by a prepubescent, self-proclaimed royal ass that probably didn't know a thing about women and dared to use cheap tricks like illusions to attack gods - which was normally Loki's little mischievous pranks when he was bored. Not only were their women's lives at stake, but so were their prides as immortals of Asgard, and they weren't particularly merciful gods at this point, ready to dish out some death sentences at the next meet.

Lucky for them that they didn't have to swim across the seas to reach Togenkyo Island, because Yamino and Heimdall managed to find an emergency life boat stashed below deck of the Kakinouchi yacht - even the unconscious heir could be useful. So the measly flotation device was a very tight fit, carrying six gods and two small animals across the waters, and poor Loki wasn't spared from the waves of the seas.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mayura and Freya, both blindfolded and arms tied behind their backs, though only Freya still had a gag on, were being led down a long corridor by the animal-like henchmen. They gently pushed them forward, Mayura stumbling a bit, bumping in to Freya in front of her, and apologized. When they finally reached a set of large doors, being shoved open by the guards, while the escorts took the blindfolds off the women and untied them.

Before Freya could even summon her magical weapons and attack, she and Mayura were pushed in to the very poorly lit room. Instead of stumbling to the floor, which was several meters down, they plummeted in to the large pillow cushions, and the lights overhead began to brighten, revealing extravagant chandeliers overhead, and a large banquet hall of at least a hundred females in attendance, all dressed in luxurious dresses and ball gowns.

Freya ground out angrily, miffed that she wasn't given such gorgeous clothing, which shouldn't be the concern right now, "What in Asgard's name is this?!"

"Wow!" Mayura exclaimed, "Everyone is so pretty!"

"Mayura-san!"

The familiar voice drew their attention among the crowd, where Hel-chan excused her way through the women to make it to her friends. She was wearing a completely different attire than her beach wear, though showing just as much skin in the spaghetti-strap dress with a short skirt, and Mayura glomped her, "Hel-chan, I'm so glad you're okay! Where's Spica-sama?"

"She's over there," she pointed over her shoulder and took Mayura's hand, leading them through the maze of females, all socializing with each other as if being captives to a bunch of human-hybrids was not a problem. They were drinking and eating like it was a huge party, and part of the feasting crowd was Spica, drowning herself in paradise of food, that clashed with her cute, halter dress of frills and ribbons. Her teeth tore through a large drumstick in one hand while the other waved at them, and they sweatdropped at the size of it, even more amazed by the sheer amount of food stretched on the long table.

"At least one of us is enjoying the abduction," the blonde goddess sneered.

Spica's sign: _'At least I don't have a stick up my ass.'_

"Why you-"

It was an obvious fact that a god and a giant were eternal rivals, and Mayura couldn't let a conflict break out among them, "AH! I'm sure Loki-kun is on his way to save us!"

As if his name was a magical word to erase all of Freya's anger and hate, she found herself pining for the trickster god instead, "Oh! Loki certainly will save me from these heathens! I guess I'll have to be a maiden in distress and let him be the hero! It'll be so romantic!"

Spica's sarcastic sign: _'Great. I'll be over here.'_

The others sweatdropped at her sudden change in demeanor, which the mortal was grateful for and looked around the room, "Hel-chan, do you know who these girls are? Are they like us?"

She nodded, "They were taken from the nearby islands."

"But they're not even worried," Freya remarked, "Like this is all a party to them."

"Apparently we were invited to a bridal competition for a Prince Touma, whoever he is."

"Eh," Mayura sweatdropped, "I wouldn't really call it a friendly invitation."

"That stupid brat again," Freya growled, so unlike a goddess.

* * *

Somewhere on the island, Loki and company were hidden in the perimeter of the forest glades that surrounded the mighty fortress that was just a very large tree in the center of the drifting piece of land, almost comparable to Yggdrasil, to come up with the next plan. After much deliberation in the group, they had come to a consensus that blasting their way inside would only put their women's safety at risk, so the next best thing was distract and assimilate to the situation.

It was a good thing that they were gods, more specifically good-looking gods with magical powers that could transform themselves to lovely goddesses that even mortal men could fall in love with. This was the one time that Heimdall was grateful for lacking his right eye and possessing half his powers, so he wouldn't go on a gender-bending spree for the sake of loved ones.

Narugami, in a poofy, ruffled dress, glared at a beautiful Loki, who shouldn't be grinning so smugly in the fitted, slim gown of bloody red, "This is a lot worse than 'that time'. Now I'm a freakin' woman!"

"It's only for a few minutes, till we get inside."

"Freyr is so lovely," the god-turned-temporary-goddess sighed, playing with the ends of his attached, white cape to his shimmering, pearly white princess ball gown, while a very touched Gullinbursti gazed at his master with much admiration, "but not as lovely as Yamato Nadeshiko!"

"The girls better not see me like this," Narugami moped.

"Waah, it'll be so embarrassing!" Hodur gushed, and the others sweatdropped, not only to his rather cutesy exclamation but also his black, gothic-like dress topped with a black hoodie, in the middle of summer.

'You don't sound embarrassed,' Fenrir barked then turned to an uncomfortable Yamino, who was wearing a very conservative, purple dress with long sleeves and a skirt that dragged on the ground, 'Oi Jormungand, what's up with that outfit. You need to wear something sexy.'

"All right," Heimdall clapped for their attention, "If you ladies are done whining, we have some work to do." That comment earned him some glares, and he ignored them, making his way out of the forest, heading towards the fortress entrance being guarded by two soldiers.

Of course he and his group of fake women were immediately stopped, looking rather suspicious but that was overshadowed by the obvious ogling of the guards. Heimdall sweatdropped at his poorly assembled bridal candidates for the prince, and it seemed that only the competent Loki and a ditzy Freyr managed to lure the henchmen in to a sense of comfortable flirting, but one look at Narugami's constipated expression was priceless.

"Are you ladies here to be Prince Touma's bride?"

"Yes," Heimdall coughed, "my sisters are looking for husbands..."

A guard walked over to Narugami and gave him a look over, wagging his brows with interest. Narugami glared as he walked by, passing the inspection, but he suddenly felt a slap to his behind. The thunder god already hated wearing women's clothing, due to a past incident, but turning in to a female and being hit on was another matter completely.

Heimdall slapped a hand to his forehead since that little action had doomed them, while Fenrir and Gullinbursti, having hidden themselves under Yamino's and Freyr's dress respectively, witnessed the humorous sight and snickered.

Not able to take anymore of the charade, Narugami grabbed Mjollnir from underneath his skirt, strapped to his leg, and smacked the two guards unconscious.

"We should've done this from the start," he shouted, ripping the dress from his person to break the magic, returning himself to his original appearance, and kicked the entrance door down. The other gods did the same, tearing through the fabric ending the magic casted on them, overlooking the fact that the whole plan had been pointless to begin with, but a grinning Heimdall had some great blackmail images for the future.

He sprinted in to the fortress after everyone and came to a stop at a very long hallway, with a series of doors along both sides, and they sweatdropped, knowing that nothing was ever good behind closed doors. Besides, Loki had a direct path to Mayura, the white thread shimmering brightly straight down the hall, and he charged ahead, leading them to their final destination.

* * *

Spica was still stuffing her face with all the food while Mayura and Hel-chan, each had a plate of a bit of this and that, dared not to invade the giantess' territory, but they were famished from all the waiting, wondering when this so called bridal competition was going to start. They had no plans on participating but were rather curious about the strange entertainment of these islanders, though Mayura's mind wandered back to Loki and the others, hoping they were all right.

With the quick break in between, Mayura was now sporting a strapless and backless gown that wrapped around her chest towards her lower back and a wide sash tied around her waist, right beneath her bust, making a big bow in the back. The skirt was short, hitting mid-thigh, with a slit on each side that didn't seem to bother her much, considering the two-piece swimsuit she wore earlier.

Annoyed and impatient, Freya, having changed in to the island's expensive fabric of soft blue that hugged her curves, flowing straight to the floor, a slit along the right side and a single strap over her left shoulder, threw her goblet of red wine to the floor. She stood up, and with a hand on her hip, she was about to give a piece of her mind to their absent hosts, when, as if on cue, the sounds of drums began to fill the banquet hall and the lights dimmed, a spotlight appearing on the raised platform in the middle of the room.

A voice, from over the loud speakers, announced, "The one you've all been waiting for... the wonderful and magnificent ruler of Togenkyo, Prince Touma!"

In a flash of blinding lights and theatrical fireworks display, Touma appeared before the throne, standing proudly and waving a hand to his audience, and the lights returned to normal while the female crowds murmured to themselves.

"Oh, so that's Touma-san," Hel-chan noted in surprise.

Spica's sign: _'He's just a baby.'_

"A baby that needs to be punished!" Freya glared.

"Attention, ladies!" the monkey-man, named Sartor because that was his given name (and he hated to be called monkey-man), now had a microphone in his hand, since he was the host of the bridal contest, "The Bridal Games will now begin!"

"If he's looking for a spanking," the blonde goddess whipped out her magical frying pan, "I'll be glad to give him one."

"Sorry, ojou-san," the birdman named Toristan appeared behind them, "But the cooking round doesn't start till later."

Mayura, sweatdropping and trying to calm the hot-headed Freya down with Hel-chan, spoke to the masked man, "Excuse me, but we're not participating."

"You have no choice. Everyone must participate, or else."

She blinked, "Or else?"

"Or else what?!" Freya screamed.

Toristan sweatdropped, thinking how Freya would totally lose the competition, and showed them a piece of paper. Mayura took it and looked it over, gradually a bunch of tiny sweatdrops appear over her head, and seeing how nervous and distress the mortal had become, Hel-chan and Freya stood on either side of her to see what was the big deal. Right behind them, Spica just shoved a meatball in to her mouth, holding a sign up: _'What is it?'_

"AN INVOICE?!"

"For all the luxury accommodations," he nodded, "Your dresses, the food and wine..."

Upon seeing how much their total was, coming to about 608,900 yen ($6089), the three screamed at the poor messenger - ironic that he was half bird to deliver the bad news, "WE CAN'T PAY FOR THIS!"

"The dresses shouldn't cost that much!" Freya glared.

"And we hardly ate anything," Hel-chan's eyes teared up.

Mayura sweatdropped and turned around to look at Spica, who was still eating, attempting to look innocent and clueless about the whole matter, while Toristan continued to add up the additional food she was inhaling to the current invoice.

Spica's sign: _'You mean it's not free?'_

"Ah, I'm surprised," the mortal girl started, a nervous twitch of her left eye, "Loki-kun hasn't filed for bankruptcy..."

It was quite amazing when one thought about it, ignoring the fact that these were gods, when Loki could afford such a large and extravagant mansion to live in, pay for the necessities and Yamino's occasional mail order spending while the rest of the gods struggled to make ends meet, like Narugami's endless part-time jobs and the sharing of rent of a 20-tatami size apartment between Heimdall, Freyr and Freya.

Sarutoru's voice boomed over them again, "Every woman must have patience to be Prince Touma's bride! The first contest will test this!"

Each girl present, being forced to participate, was given a pair of chopsticks and two plates, one was empty and the other filled with grains of rice. Mayura and company looked at their set uncertainly, all praying that their friends would hurry up and save them, and even Spica was no exception since the buffet was shut down.

Instructions for the round was announced, "You must move each grain of rice from one plate to the other, using only the chopsticks!"

Spica stared at the plate of rice in her hands, and all she could see was food, despite it being in its raw state, and dumped it in to her mouth.

The girls sweatdropped when she held up a sign: _'I'm still hungry.'_

Toristan pointed at Spica, "Disqualified!"

The giantess held her empty plate out to him, holding up another sign: _'Food please.'_

"This is silly," Hel-chan sighed.

Freya growled, "Only an idiot could think this up!"

"Hm, this doesn't seem so bad," Mayura smiled, carefully moving one grain with the chopsticks, her tongue poking between her lips in full concentration, while the other goddesses sweatdropped. At the success of her first rice making it to the other plate, she clapped and cheered, "Yay! I did it!"

"Mayura-san," Hel-chan smiled at her friend's amusement and optimism in spite of their circumstance and turned to her plates and decided to give the game a try but was less successful.

"Hmmf!" Freya glared at her plates and decided to participate, not because she wanted to be a bride to some brat, but she was a goddess, who could do anything gracefully and elegantly, with hubris. She was out to prove to that idiot Touma that no one was going to make a fool out of goddess Freya and get away with it, yet he didn't need to lift a finger for her already do so.

Within minutes, she successfully completed the task, raising the new plate of rice grains up to Touma, "You little brat, I won this!"

Following Freya's completion, Hel-chan finished hers and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The mental focus wasn't the issue, but she never had to deal use a pair of chopsticks to pick up such a tiny thing before, and coming after them was a bright Mayura, humming to herself, as she had no problems, taking her time because she didn't realize that speed was also key to winning. Not many girls were able to complete the task, and only the top fifty fastest ones could make it to the next round.

"Boring~! It doesn't count!" Touma waved off the round without a care, ignoring Freya's ranting and raving below. For him, the image of a beautiful woman lowering herself for a mere child's enjoyment was hilarious enough, and he was ready to move on, "Bring on the next contest!"

Obeying his young master, Sarutoru announced the next round when a group of henchmen brought out a gigantic Venus Flytrap to the center of the room, "Not only does a wife have patience but also talent! The next contest is flower arrangement!"

Mayura and Hel-chan, each holding a pair of clippers, stared up at it and sweatdropped.

"Th-That's a flower?" the pink-haired girl twitched.

"I don't think we would find this indigenous to Tokyo, Mayura-san."

"Ohoho~!"

Freya laughed, pulling out her magical chainsaw and revving it up. She ducked out of the way when one of the vines shot at her, which took hold of a surprised Mayura and yanked her in to the air.

"Mayura-san!"

Hel-chan grabbed the leftover plates and threw it like a frisbee at the vine, slicing it right off the man-eating plant, and ran in to catch Mayura before she hit the ground. The plant cried in pain, and thanking the distraction, Freya was able to get in close enough to cut the monstrous, overgrown weed at its base.

She gave it a salute as it went falling over like a useless tree, and not able to give up, the plant tried to attack her with the remaining vines, but Freya easily dispatched those with the chainsaw, leaving a gardener's mess behind, and stood triumphantly, pointing her finger at Touma, "Give it up! Your pathetic attempts to humiliate a goddess will be your ruin!"

"Start the next contest!" he ordered.

"What the-"

"Our next contest," Sarutoru cut off any of Freya's vulgarities, "will test each bridal candidate's cooking ability!"

At this point, after the round with the man-eating plant, the only contestants really left were Mayura and the two goddesses and those who managed to avoid the vines and clipped something off the plant, which were about ten bridal candidates now. Out of those ten, the goddesses had already been defeated before the round even started because they had never in their long existence touched a stove, and Freya's magical frying pan was not used for cooking but for clobbering and maybe magically burning stuff.

On the other hand, Mayura was happily stirring a bowl of eggs and then chopped some onions and tomatoes, because she could cook, if some of her dishes were average, having to fill in a few times in the kitchen when Yamino was out of commission. Her frying pan was warming up on the stove, while an eager Spica was next to her, waiting with an empty plate for food. She was making her omelet specialty, but the giantess was just happy that she could eat again, deeply moved by her companion's culinary skills.

Spica's sign: _'Marry me.'_

Mayura sweatdropped, "S-Spica-sama..."

* * *

**Notes:** Lol, sorry if I made Freya way too aggressive. I needed to have someone like that... *shrugs* -kuro.


	43. Chapter 43

**- Disclaimer:** _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

* * *

**Ah, My Loki-sama!**

written by Kurosu

**- Chapter Forty-Three. Special - ****Unforgettable Summer, Battle for the Brides.**

The large doors to the banquet hall suddenly flew off their hinges and smacked in to a group of extra lackeys, but everyone - allies and enemies alike including the squealing fangirls - were in awe at the appearance of Loki and the gods, like a beautiful sparkling of light illuminated them from the heavens. Mayura was in the middle of passing a plate of omelets to Spica when she caught sight of Loki, and the latter happily accepted the food.

"Mayura!"

"Loki-kun!" Mayura called out to him, standing up, and broke in to a run for him.

Touma watched on as the only two people in the room were running towards each other and found great interest in the girl's bright face, eyes filled with affection and a beautiful smile that made his insides churn with warmth. If only he had someone that could look at him like that, and why not have that girl do it, "Hm, Sarutoru."

He had been trying to figure out what was happening below, where the new faces had come from since he wasn't informed of anyone entering the fortress. Upon hearing his name, he turned to his prince, "Yes, Touma-sama?"

"Punish those trespassers," he ordered calmly, "And bring that girl to me."

Sarutoru followed his gaze to the center of the room where the pink-haired beauty was about to reunite with the equal good-looking man and nodded. He then shouted in to the microphone, "Capture the intruders!"

Chaos promptly ensued, the gods versus an island of freaks, while the random female extras were either fleeing the scene or getting snatched up by various animal-hybrid guards, which left the goddesses to join the battle, much to Freya's psychotic joy. She smacked the nearest soldier with the frying pan and proceeded to stomp the next one to the floor.

"Freyr's beloved sister!" the idiot god leaped for Freya, only to be hit in the face by the pan, "You're... o...kay..."

Gullinbursti flinched.

"Freya-sama!"

The goddess flicked her wrist, and the pan struck Hodur's face too, and he quickly joined a semi-conscious Freyr on the floor. "Ah, nii-sama! Hodur! Don't surprise me like that!" she picked up her brother by the collar of his shirt, "Where's my Loki?"

* * *

In the craziness of fleeing women, Hel-chan was knocked to the floor, and a menacing shadow appeared behind her, looming over her form. A hand fell on her shoulder, and she gasped, turning around to see a creepy soldier drooling lustfully at her, but his face was soon met by a portable stove - one that was used for the cooking contest - thrown by an angry Yamino. He wasn't about to let some filthy pervert touch his sister like that and get away with it, and neither was Heimdall, who sent Gjallar to peck the living daylights out of the lecherous man that dare touch a goddess.

"Hel! Are you all right?!" Yamino inquired, helping his sister up to her feet.

"Th-thank you, Jormungand-ani. Heimdall-sama."

Heimdall looked around for the others, just as Gjallar returned to him, perching on his right shoulder, "Let's hurry and find the others. We need to get out of here."

* * *

Spica was going from one dish to another, the ones from the cooking contest before it was interrupted, eating what she could, not realizing of the danger around her or just ignoring it because food was more important. So she was quite oblivious to the group of soldiers sneaking up behind her, hoping to capture her by surprise, but they should've paid more attention to their surroundings rather than her.

A thunderous roar shook the ground, and the floor cracked, splitting in half, creating a deep crevice that separated the guards from Spica. The cause of it originated from the great Narugami, who struck the ground with Mjollnir, grinning smugly, while Fenrir ran over to his mother, "Mom, you okay?"

Spica just looked at him, deadpanned, still eating, and he sweatdropped - what a rhetoric question, his mother was a giantess, so of course she was okay! But he had to mentally applaud her for the ability to still eat despite the inappropriate time and place.

* * *

While all that happened, Mayura was ecstatic to see Loki again and was only a few feet away until she could reach out to him, but it was too good to be true, and the dramatic reunion was cut short by Sarutoru's appearance, jumping down in between them. He gave her a creepy smile and dashed for her before Loki could react, and his arm hooked around her waist, pulling her straight in to his hold, being kidnapped for the second time in the same day.

Loki sprinted after them as Sarutoru, carrying Mayura bridal style, fled up to the platform where Touma stood, waiting for their arrival, but the god wasn't going to let them escape with his mortal. He blasted a fireball from his left hand, aimed for the monkey's back, the latter freaked out and barely dodged it, letting it hit the wall off to his left. More soldiers appeared, charging for Loki to block his pathway up to the platform.

Sarutoru landed safely and dropped Mayura to the floor, in front of his prince, as Touma turned to the puzzled girl and extended a helping hand out to her, a gentle smile on his face, "It's all right. I won't hurt you."

She blinked and accepted his hand, being pulled up to her feet.

"What about the other bridal candidates?" the monkey-man inquired curiously.

"Oh I don't care. You can have them," he waved off his subordinate, who immediately took off without another word, excited in claiming his own bride, still holding Mayura's hand, his eyes remained glued to her person, "I've already chosen my bride."

She looked around, confused, and seeing that no one else was there besides the two of them, she pointed to herself, "Me?"

"Who else?" he grinned and gave her hand a tug, drawing her closer to him, "What's your name?"

"Eh, Mayura. Daidouji Mayura."

Feeling awkward was an understatement, because not only was this boy shorter than her, he was a few years her junior too, and besides, she already had someone else in her heart. She sweatdropped when he brought her hand up to his face and kissed the back of her hand like a gentleman, "Mayura... what a beautiful name."

"Let her go," came a steady, threatening voice that did not match the owner at all. A very pissed off Loki, looking very disheveled after beating down a group of guards in his way, stood at the top of the stairs, a hand on the railing while the other held Laevateinn.

"Loki-kun!" Mayura gasped, concern written all over her face, and moved towards him, but Touma still held her hand and pulled her back against him. He snaked an arm around her waist, keeping her at his side, which only infuriated Loki even more, that the little prick dared to touch his Mayura so intimately.

The god narrowed his eyes at the young prince, "This is your last warning. Let her go. Now."

"I take orders from no one!" Touma snorted.

Loki usually didn't beat up on kids, but this brat was going to be an exception. He charged forward and swung Laevateinn down, but Touma shifted Mayura towards the back and raised his scabbard to block the attack, summoning a bright light from the sheathed sword to blind him. The god wasn't going to fall for his tricks again and snuck in a left fist to Touma's face before the end of the sword struck in to his stomach, the force sent him skidding back.

"Touma-kun, stop! Please," she struggled and failed, against a boy to boot, "don't hurt Loki-kun!"

He looked at her slightly hurt that she cared more for his enemy, not that he bothered to realize that he only knew her for like a whole ten minutes, "Mayura, don't you want to be my wife?"

"No!"

He glared at her for her rebellious answer and tightened his grip on her, unwilling to let her go. He summoned a dark portal and dragged her with him to it, and they disappeared from sight, her voice calling out to Loki.

The god angrily slammed a fist to the ground, silently cursing Touma, and after a few moments to calm himself, he stood up and hurried to regroup with the others, only to find them equally frustrated and pride bruised once again, because they were not able to rescue any of their female friends. During the frenzy, they faced off against Touma's numerous soldiers, and his elite commanders had cunningly entered the fray and snatched the girls from under their noses.

The group was forced to split up and search the spacious fortress, but how they did that was up to them. Heimdall had taken over the leadership, since Loki appeared inwardly distraught over Mayura, and controlled himself from rolling an eye at his obvious weakness.

"I leave the others to you," Loki declared before running off, following the only physical connection he had left of Mayura.

"Loki-sama!" Yamino called, worriedly.

'Daddy!'

Narugami shook his head, "It's no use. He's got it bad."

* * *

Meanwhile high up in the tree fortress, the portal reappeared in a large room that one could assume was the prince's personal chamber, and a frowning Touma exited from it with Mayura and shoved her on to the bed. She sat up quietly and looked around as he turned away coldly and walked over to the table. He stood there for a few moments, his back facing her and the still posture of his body revealed nothing of his emotions.

He then reached a hand out to the teapot in the middle of the table and poured a cup of warm tea. He returned to her, standing a respectable distance from her, and offered her the beverage. She accepted it and peered up to his face, seeing that he was no longer angry, but the loneliness in his eyes was heartbreaking, "Touma-kun..."

He managed a smile, "So, how do you like my room?"

"It's... nice," her curious eyes roamed the room again, and she sweatdropped at the ridiculous size of it all - probably the size of just her family shrine, "and big." She noticed a large picture frame of a beautiful woman holding a small boy in her lap over the mantle, "Who is that?"

He followed her gaze, "That's... my mother and me."

"Your mother?"

He walked up to the frame, with a sorrowful expression, "She died soon after I was born." He touched the edge of the frame and sighed, "Sometimes I wonder what kind of woman she was..."

"You lost your mother too," Mayura stared at the teacup in her hands, an ache in her heart at the memory of losing her mother.

Touma whirled around to her, "You too, Mayura?"

She looked up and nodded, a faint smile upon her lips, "But I still have papa. Loki-kun, Hel-chan, Narugami-kun, and all my friends."

He smiled too, glad that they had things in common and she could relate to his feelings, "I'm never lonely either. The whole crew on the island is my family." He walked over to her and took her hand within his, "And now I have you."

She blushed, "Touma-kun."

He knelt down before her, his hands snaked around her waist, as he laid his head in her lap, "With you, somehow, I feel good. Very good."

"But Touma-kun, I don't understand. There are many girls more pretty and lovely than me."

"That may be so," he closed his eyes, feeling the gentleness of her aura, and she sweatdropped at his remark, "but no one can match your warmth. It's like, you have a very accepting soul. So beautiful."

He saved himself with those last words, and she looked up to the ceiling, pondering over his words - words that she would not understand till much later - and she felt him move out of her lap. Her eyes drifted back down to him, and he was staring at her intently as if soaking in the details of her face.

"This island has a secret," he spoke to her quietly, "Only males are born from early times by the magical force of the spring, that comes from the center of island, and turns any creature which falls down there into a man.

"It's, so to speak, a cursed island."

"Eh! Cursed?! That's a great mystery!"

Her excitement over the story surprised him, and he stood up, taking her hand, and led her over to a podium with the island's emblem on it. He took out a small peach amulet and inserted it in to the central impression, and gradually, the panels of floor in front of them parted, revealing a secret passageway that spiraled down through the trunk of the tree. At the very bottom, she could see a soft glow of the source of the magical water, deep inside the earth.

"Is that the magical spring?" she asked in awe.

"Yes, because of it, we have to brides from outside."

"Touma-kun..."

"However, the spring is sacred since it protects the island. The story of the spring is a secret between the two of us." He faced her, clasping both of her hands within his, "You'll stay here with me, won't you?

* * *

Meanwhile, a lot of things happened, but it wasn't surprising that Freya was angry and throwing things around again. If her personality wasn't so irritating at times, one would sympathize with her, but the one who was suffering the most wasn't the goddess. The poor dog-man by the name of Wonton was the target of her wrath, but all he was doing was to please his mistress by bringing her all sorts of gifts, though the dead squirrel was probably overdoing it.

"Stop giving me useless things!" she shouted. She tried to march to the door, but he would always block her way. She smacked him with her frying pan, but that did nothing to his thick skull. He only stared at her like a curious dog, wagging his tail.

"Do you even understand me?!"

He smiled and nodded. He scurried off to a cabinet and returned with her next gift, which was a bone, nicely wrapped with a ribbon to show how much care and thought he put in to it. Of course Freya still rejected it, since it couldn't even compare to the wonderful gifts she received from the gods of Asgard.

Suddenly, they could hear a familiar voice calling out for the goddess, followed by a crash through the wall courtesy of a large Gullinbursti and the magical bishounen Freyr, "Freya! I've found you at last!"

Narugami poked his head through the hole, "Shesh, you sure know how to make an entrance."

Freyr hopped off his ride and pointed his wand at Wonton, who unexpectedly took interest in the magical stick, "You beast! Release Freyr's beloved sister from your imprisonment, or else Freyr will smite thee in the name of justice and the fair maidens of the Nine Worlds!"

"Nii-sama," she sighed, having no more patience on theatrics, and walked over to him, grabbing the wand. She dangled the object in front of the dogman, who was enraptured by it, and then threw it out the window, "Go fetch it!"

Freyr squealed and cried like a little girl having lost her favorite doll, "Freya, how could you?!"

Wonton, with tongue hanging out of his mouth, made a dash for it, along side Freyr, both running after the wand and jumping out the window to grab it. It was too late when they realized what happened, and they plummeted comically to the ground. Freya and Narugami with Gullinbursti ran to the window, sweatdropping, "Nii-sama..."

* * *

Hel-chan was tied to a cross high in the air, in what appeared to a large room with several wooden poles and beams criss-crossing like an aviary design of a cage. She was slowly regaining consciousness when she recognized the figure approaching her from the darkness. It was the feathery, masked man that stood in front of her, and he took her chin within his hand, lifting her face up towards him, "You will become my wife."

She jerked her head away, "Never."

"You will be mine," Toristan leered, "No one is stopping me."

Before he could make another move, he sensed someone entering his territory and retreated from her in to the darkness, needing to deal with the intrusion before he could claim her for his own.

Hel-chan spotted Heimdall and Gjallar below and shouted to them, "Be careful, Heimdall-sama!"

"Hel!" he called up to her, "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine!"

Gjallar flew up to her, ahead of Heimdall, to assess the situation, but Toristan intervene and slapped the falcon from getting close to Hel-chan.

"Gjallar!" she cried out, watching helplessly as the unconscious bird fell through the air.

Heimdall appeared and caught his friend, which came to great relief for Hel-chan. He set Gjallar down to the side and straightened up, glaring at Toristan, who was now haughtily standing above him, sneering, "Are you here for your woman?"

Hel-chan blushed, "Whaa, wait! You're mistaken."

"I'm here to save Hel," Heimdall stated.

She blushed and was promptly ignored when the two engaged in battle.

Toristan flew down like a missile at Heimdall, who had just thrown his gloves aside, sidestepped to avoid the dive attack. Instead of giving the birdman a chance to turn around and head in for another attack, Heimdall jumped down the beams after him, and by the time Toristan glided back around a pole, the god came out from a blind spot and decked him with a fist, sending him flying through several beams, breaking them in half before falling on a small platform.

Dazed and in pain, he staggered to his feet, and the mask slipped off his face and dropped to his feet. At the sight of his true face, Hel-chan and Heimdall first fell in to silence and then busted in to uncharacteristic laughter because anyone with that hilarious face, a small beak for a mouth and mohawk hair, was too much to just hold back.

"Aha, you really," Heimdall laughed, "are, haha, a bird!"

Hel-chan giggled, face all red from it, "I didn't think, hehe, you'd look so silly."

Toristan, furious, blew steam from his red face and squawked out, "You'll pay for that!"

His high-pitched, unmanly voice earned him another round of laughter, and he quickly attacked them with a storm of sharp feathers. Heimdall was able to avoid most of them, but two managed to hit his right leg and one on his left arm, paralyzing him and restricting a lot of his movements, while Toristan was able to assault him with more deadly projectiles.

"Heimdall-sama!"

The rain of feathers smashed down on the god trapped on the beam, ripping through the wood and shattering it to pieces in a cloud of dust and debris. Hel-chan's cries went unheard in the background, the tears pouring for her fellow god, and when the dust cleared, there was no sign of Heimdall, only a gap in the beams.

Toristan flew back up to a weeping Hel-chan, whose head hung low, and he laughed in triumph, "Now that your lover has been defeated, I can-"

His speech stopped abruptly when a burst of dark energy emitted from the woman in his clutches, and he sweatdropped at the black aura shimmering in the darkness, increasing in size until it became a large shadow hovering her. He unconsciously took a step back as Hel-chan lifted her head up to him, red eyes pierced in to him, and the appearance of several eyes within the shadowy form stared at him, giving him a deathly chill.

"Welcome to Hel."

The shadow shot straight in to the air and made a turn back down, slamming right in to a frightened Toristan, paralyzed in shock, and sent him through all the beams, snapping them to pieces, and painfully hit the floor. The impact created a small crater around his still body, and the shadow of eyes dispersed, returning to its mistress of the dead.

Hel-chan, free from her bounds, knelt down to pick up an injured Gjallar regaining consciousness and cradled him carefully, before jumping down to the ground again. She gasped upon seeing Heimdall struggling with the last paralytic feathers embedded in his arm, while all the ones that Toristan had attacked him struck the ground with him in the center void, since he had used the darkness to create a shield at the last minute to avoid the assault.

"Heimdall-sama!" she rushed to him just as he pulled the last one out, and she hugged him, "I'm so glad you're all right!"

"Ah," he returned her embrace, a strange but not unlikable feeling to have someone worried over him, "Me too."

* * *

Fenrir had tracked down the scent of Spica, which also coincided with the aroma of food, leading Yamino and Hodur to a room, where said giantess was feasting at a large table of delicious food. Her two sons sweatdropped while Hodur was clueless to what was happening, and even more outrageous was Sarutoru, in a maid getup, serving the food to Spica.

After setting down the extra dishes, he threw his arms towards the girl, "My darling, I did what you asked, now give me a kiss!"

She shoved the wooden sign in his face, stopping him from getting his dirty hands on her: _'Keep the food coming.'_

"But honey-"

Still eating, she used the sign and hit him some more without missing a beat, until he was bloody and unrecognizable, and Yamino and Fenrir sweatdropped, pitying the poor monkey-man now sprawled out on the ground like a corpse.

Hodur rushed forward, falling to his knees, crying, "Spica-sama! Speak to me!"

'Mom can't speak, you fool!' Fenrir barked.

"Hodur-san, that's not Spica-sama either," Yamino told him, wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief.

* * *

The pleading look on Touma's face, like a child wanting his greatest wish to be granted, burrowed its way to her heart, but Mayura shook her head, her feelings for Loki were much stronger, "I'm sorry, Touma-kun, but I can't. I have my papa, my friends... and..."

"And?"

"And Lo-"

"Mayura!"

At the sound of his voice, she turned towards the door, and they expectantly flew open, and Loki ran in, heading straight to her when he saw her smiling at him. An enraged Touma grabbed Mayura's arm before she could escape and jerked her out of the way, "If you value your life, then leave here now.

"I won't let you take her away from me!"

"She isn't yours to begin with!"

Laevateinn swung down upon him, but Touma blocked the staff with his bare hands, and Loki pulled back in time before his fist could make contact. The prince drew his sword, the blade gleaming in the light, but the god was prepared for the brat's predictable tricks. He called upon his special attack and a blaze of fire shot forth, engulfing Loki and Laevateinn within the flames.

"Loki-kun!"

As if the god of fire would let this measly flame do him any harm, even if it was just an illusion, but the stupefy expression on the boy's face was priceless. Loki charged through the mirage of fire, Laevateinn in hand, and emerged from it, green eyes turning a dangerous red color as he jabbed the end of the staff right in to Touma's chest. One could almost hear the sound of bones cracking as the prince fell backwards to the floor, "Whaa... how...?"

Loki stood over him, the glowing redness of his eyes fading back to green, and his voice was low and threatening as he held Laevateinn at his chest, "Never steal from a god."

Touma glared at him, "God? Don't make me laugh!"

He smacked the staff aside and made a run for it, towards a surprised Mayura, grabbing her wrist and dragging her with him to the underground springs. She tried to resist, but he picked her up and threw her in to a cart. He kicked the release lever and broke it too, just as Loki jumped down on to the tracks. He gave the set of carts a shove, setting them in to motion, while he used the lever to fight off the god.

"If you're a god, then what are you doing with us mortals?!"

"That's none of your business!"

Touma thrusted the stick towards his torso, but it hit Laevateinn's shaft instead. He ducked down and swept his right leg across the ground, knocking Loki off balance, and then broke in to a run after the carts. He took a giant leap and landed in to one of the carts, making his way towards Mayura.

Loki quickly got up, but they had gotten such a head start that the only way for him to catch up would be to jump down to the tracks below him. It was a dangerous dive to the next level, but he was a god - a god who was going to get his mortal back at all costs. He bound to the next tracks, just as the mine carts were making the loop towards him, and jumped right in, but Touma had already moved Mayura towards the other end and trying to unhook the rest of the cars.

He swung Laevateinn to stop the idiot from making the situation worse, speeding recklessly down an old mine track, but the distraction made Touma twist the metal pole against the track, sparks flying from the friction of metal, which derailed all the cars, sending them all in to the air. Touma was able to grab on to the edge of the tracks, but Mayura went plummeting downwards.

"Mayura!"

Letting Laevateinn disappear from his hand, Loki set his arms at his sides and dived right after her, and when he was within reach, he grabbed hold of her hand and drew her towards him, hugging her tightly, "Mayura."

"Loki-kun!" she cried, both were still falling down to the springs, "That's the mysterious spring with the water that'll turn anything in to a man!"

"Is that so?"

He smiled, and a bright light appeared and enveloped them in to the warmth, soon spreading within the caverns, even Touma had to shield his eyes from its blinding rays. When it was clear again, he looked back down and was awestruck by the pure white wings that sprouted from Loki's back as he floated in the above the cursed springs with Mayura secured in his arms, "He really is a god..."

* * *

Mayura cracked an eye open, peeking at her surroundings, wondering if she had fallen in to the mysterious springs yet, but it was Loki's chuckle that made her realize that he had saved her like always. She looked down and panicked that they were right above the waters, cutting it very close there, and in a panic, she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Mou Loki-kun! I almost turned in to a man!"

"You think I'd let that happen?" he laughed, "But I do like this."

She blinked, and he gave her a squeeze, indicating that it was just the two of them in each other's arms, before flying them upwards through the hollow tree, passing by an apologetic Touma, who climbed up safely on to the ledge. They eventually reached the tree top, shooting out through the branches and leaves in time to for the sun to emerge from the ocean horizon, and settled down on a thick branch.

Even though her footing was back against a solid surface, Loki wouldn't let her go, unwilling to admit it his fear of losing her again if he did so, but she was all right with it, just the serene moment between the two of them that they hardly had a chance during their trip.

"Ah, Loki-kun! It's so beautiful!" she whispered, her head nestled against him, her arms wrapped around his waist, while his own held her close to him. He dropped his chin on top of her head, smiling at the start of a new day greeting them, thinking this vacation didn't end up too badly.

* * *

Hours later when everything had finally calmed down, a remorseful Touma bowed before Mayura and Loki, apologizing for the trouble he had caused them and their friends. Even though the mortal was the only forgiving soul amongst the group, the others couldn't quite do anything about vengeance when she sort of represented them on Midgard.

Loki sighed, "As long as you've learned your lesson, not to touch a god's property."

Touma sweatdropped and looked at Mayura, uncertain about returning the girl back to a very possessive god, "I wonder if this is okay?"

"What do you mean, Touma-kun?" she blinked, and Loki, standing behind her, draped an arm over her shoulder to take a hold of her chin and tilted her head to the side as he leaned down to her exposed neck and kissed her, leaving a bite mark in the process, denoting his property.

Touma blushed, about to draw out his sword again at the violation of a maiden, but he realized that if he was embarrassed by such a scene, he was still too young to compete with someone like Loki, even the god's smug grin said it all.

"Waah, Loki-kun!" Mayura flushed with embarrassment.

"Loki!" Freya whined, "I want one too!"

"Unhand Freyr's Yamato Nadeshiko, you vile beast!"

They sweatdropped and sighed, and Narugami asked, "How are we supposed to get home now?"

"Don't worry," Sarutoru smiled, "This is a floating island. Give it a week and the currents will take us by Japan."

"Oh! How nice," Hel-chan remarked.

Heimdall sighed, "So, we get another week of doing nothing."

Spica managed to get her hands on a bunch of peaches and have been snacking on them since, holding a sign: _'When's breakfast?'_

'Yeah! I'm starving!' Fenrir barked.

Yamino sighed, thinking it was going to be a long trip back to Tokyo, and glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Hodur had no worries about it at all since he was able to go back to his fishing. Loki's middle child was so right on that, another week of this craziness was going to be a whole other adventure in itself, though there was probably something wrong with this picture, and it wasn't the mysterious floating island drifting towards the sunrise.

Mayura sounded thoughtful, "Ne Loki-kun."

"Hm?"

"I feel like... we're forgetting something."

After a short pause, knowing exactly what it was, he answered her with a quiet chuckle, "No, not at all."

"Ah, somehow, I don't believe Loki-kun..."

* * *

"Ugh, where am I?"

Koutaro finally woke up on the original beach to find himself alone and the wrecked family yacht within his sights. He sweatdropped and wondered, "And where is everyone?"

* * *

**Notes:** There you have it! The summer intermission! I just like picking on Koutaro! Did everyone forget about him there, lol? And omg, I totally forgot Hodur and Gullinbursti a few times, lol!

Yes, I do like to ship Hel-chan & Heimdall, hehe. -kuro.


End file.
